Pointer Sisters Dress

Oh yes, 'I'm So Excited, and I Just Can't Hide It', etc, etc, etc!!

After posting a muslin that really did me no favours at all, I received some great suggestions and comments from my lovely readers - thank-you so much!  And then we moved house, and I made some other garments and all the time felt terribly guilty that I did not follow up on these suggestions.  So here we are!  Based (very loosely) upon Simplicity 7740, I made a wearable muslin and I am toltally thrilled with the results:

Pretty cute huh?!  OK, so you can't really see much here - but that was the point of using a busy print!  So here are a few more photos:

Just look how short it is - you can almost see my underwears!!  I cut off about 6" (thanks gMarie) which is huge for me!  I am an 'ankle skimming' kinda-girl, but this length is certainly much more fashion-forward with this style and a lot less frumpy!

I had to add darts on the back neckline and make an adjustment to the back centre back seam to account for my promising dowagers hump (sigh), my parents were right - stand up straight and stop hunching your shoulders, they kept telling me as I was growing up . . . . .

I really like the way it fits round my waist and butt - I took loads in on the side seams and there is a sway back adjustment as well.

Apologies for the headless shots - either my hair was not behaving or Mr. SDSC managed to catch a less than flattering expression (obviously not my fault!!)

I know that there is still lots of room for improvement, but I am so pleased with this.  I ended up with just bust darts in the front (thanks Carolyn!) but added a very long vertical dart from my hips almost up to my shoulder blades in the back.  I bound the arms and neckline with bias binding, used an invisible zip and lined the dress (with a rather cheap lining - it is a wearable muslin after all!) and I feel very summery in it!

Here are a few close up photos:

I do like to add something in the inside of a vent like a button, or the eye of a 'hook and eye', as this helps stabilize the vent and prevent it tearing during wear.  I had a small shell button that fit the bill perfectly here!  I also like to sew down the lining either side of the vent to hold it all in place - elsewhere it just hangs free!

It is likely that I will wear a cardigan with this - I am not totally comfortable with flashing my upper arms:

So, what do you think?  I am ready to try another dress - in a solid color, and it will interesting to see how that works out.  This is what I have chosen:

Finally - thanks for the comments,past, present and future!  I learn so much from what you all say :)