{"id":33871,"date":"2015-04-04T01:43:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-04T05:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=33871"},"modified":"2017-03-01T14:35:52","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T19:35:52","slug":"easter-dressoh-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/04\/easter-dressoh-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter Dress~Oh NO!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1e9f8978eaeb98627a940844257a0a30\"<\/a><\/p>\n

See followup post She Wore the Dress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Happy Easter to you all!\u00c2\u00a0 This is such a joyous season, filled with promise of renewal and new beginnings.\u00c2\u00a0 Beautiful worship services, inspiring music, egg hunts and family gatherings all make it so special.<\/p>\n

I will enjoy all these blessings, but right now I am dealing with major disappointment–the Easter\u00c2\u00a0 dress I made for 2 yo granddaughter Vivian Rose.<\/p>\n

For this enormously significant holiday, every mother and grandmother tries to outfit her little darlings in beautiful garments.For me, “tries” is the operative word here.\u00c2\u00a0 And believe me I did\u00c2\u00a0 try.<\/p>\n

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\"ME<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This post is not meant to be all about moaning and wailing, though this Mary Engelbreit illustration captures my feelings pretty accurately.\u00c2\u00a0 But I do hope listing the details of my failure will be helpful.\u00c2\u00a0 Also included are the few (very few!) good things I did.<\/p>\n

So, reluctantly, I post this sad photo of the disastrous dress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Alice<\/a><\/p>\n

MISTAKES:\u00c2\u00a0 (If you are prone to depression, just skip this and go to the few little success at the end of the post.)<\/p>\n

Mistake #1–I did not read or examine the pattern<\/strong><\/em> before plunging in.\u00c2\u00a0 It clearly states that this is a “loose fitting” dress.\u00c2\u00a0 But did I check out just how loose fitting it was?\u00c2\u00a0 No.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, on the pattern envelope the chest measurement for size 3 is 22″.\u00c2\u00a0 Okay, that sounds right.<\/p>\n

But a 33″circumference around that little chest where where the skirt is joined to the bodice?\u00c2\u00a0 This did not jive with the look I wanted.\u00c2\u00a0 The fit is more like a bishop.<\/p>\n

Mistake #2–I did not select suitable fabric<\/strong><\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 I love the ultra sheer Swiss “fairy batiste,” but for this garment it was the wrong choice.\u00c2\u00a0 In my humble opinion its airy, shifty nature makes cutting out and construction very difficult for anything larger than a daygown.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the fabric is not crazy about machine embroidery.\u00c2\u00a0 And there is a lot on this dress. Even after I abandoned hand embroidery, I had chosen very light embroidery–feather stitching and simple flowers.\u00c2\u00a0 Stabilizing and hooping (NO!) were a great challenge.<\/p>\n

And one more reason this fabric was wrong?\u00c2\u00a0 It is wrong for Tornado Vivian Rose. When I showed the dress to my dear husband,\u00c2\u00a0 he commented, “Wouldn’t denim be more appropriate for her?”<\/p>\n

She looks like a docile angel.\u00c2\u00a0 But she is Vivi.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Vivian<\/a>

Vivian Rose in a rare quiet moment.\u00c2\u00a0 Notice the dirty skirt on this busy, active child.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mistake #3–I made the many pattern markings with #2 pencil<\/strong><\/em>, as instructed, because originally, I planned to do the embroidery by hand.\u00c2\u00a0 But time ran out.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 After soaking in soapy water for 36 hours, the pencil marks remain.\u00c2\u00a0 Need I mention that I love water soluble markers?\u00c2\u00a0 Am I the only one who cannot get these marks out?<\/p>\n

Mistake #4–I selected the lace at night<\/strong><\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 But the wide edging at the waist is ivory not white like the more narrow edging.\u00c2\u00a0 The patterns match.\u00c2\u00a0 Why do I have white and ivory?\u00c2\u00a0 Oh no!<\/p>\n

The lace was chosen, put aside, and not picked up again until it was handstitched to the entredeux at the waist, at 3 a.m.\u00c2\u00a0 When I saw the lace in the daylight, I was shocked!\u00c2\u00a0 But the shock came too late, as the dress had to be mailed overnight that very afternoon.<\/p>\n

Mistake #5–I trusted the directions<\/strong><\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Big mistake.\u00c2\u00a0 Pattern makers are only human and errors happen.\u00c2\u00a0 I was in such a hurry to get the dress done in time that I neglected to read through the directions carefully and just went on faith, step by step.<\/p>\n

The placket, which is only in the bodice, not the skirt, was a single length of lace insertion.\u00c2\u00a0 I could never figure out how to cover the raw edge, nor did I trust the sheer fabric and a piece of lace to withstand buttons and buttonholes.\u00c2\u00a0 The designer never mentioned buttons or closure, but she is well known for favoring beauty pins.<\/p>\n

I, too,\u00c2\u00a0 love beauty pins but getting Vivian Rose to stand still long enough to slip a button into a hole is great enough a challenge.\u00c2\u00a0 She would be off and running with a bloody hole in her back if beauty pins were used.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I lined the placket with white grosgrain ribbon–bulky but sturdy.<\/p>\n

Mistake #6–I trusted the pattern pieces<\/strong><\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 They were mismarked.\u00c2\u00a0 When I was ready to cut out the slip front, the pattern piece\u00c2\u00a0 identified as sizes\u00c2\u00a0 3, 4, 5, and 6 had cutting lines for newborn, 6, 12, 18 months and 2.\u00c2\u00a0 Hmmmmmmm…<\/p>\n

Ultimately I discovered that the piece for the smaller size was in fact the correct one for the larger sizes. It was mislabeled. \u00c2\u00a0 The cutting\u00c2\u00a0 lines indicated NB, 6 months, etc. But they they were larger and the armscyes matched the larger sized back pattern piece. So I cut from that one. It took a long time to sort all this out.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 (Even longer than for you to read this boring tale of woe!)<\/em><\/p>\n

But I like the square neck slip.<\/p>\n

\"Alice<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GOOD CHOICES<\/p>\n

#1–Feather stitch files from Kathy Harrison’s Custom Keepsakes<\/strong> <\/em>collections worked very nicely and look so much more like handstitched embroidery than the featherstitches on my machines.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"skirt<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

#2–The substitution of a tatted medallion<\/strong><\/em> and more featherstitching for the hand embroidery was, I think, a pleasing choice.\u00c2\u00a0 But the ivory lace–that hurts my eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Alice<\/a><\/p>\n

#3–I must have done at least one more thing right, but nothing comes to mind. Actually, aside from the dress,\u00c2\u00a0 6 yo Alastair’s linen, monogrammed bow tie was a satisfying success. It coordinates nicely with the dress which will likely never be worn.<\/p>\n

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\"DSC00613\"<\/a>

This tutorial<\/a> is great. For the monogram, I stitched a mock-up and marked the monogram placement with a water soluble pen.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now that I have vented, I feel better (but I doubt you do!).\u00c2\u00a0 Mary Engelbreit has written my motto.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ME<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See followup post She Wore the Dress. Happy Easter to you all!\u00c2\u00a0 This is such a joyous season, filled with promise of renewal and new beginnings.\u00c2\u00a0 Beautiful worship services, inspiring music, egg hunts and family gatherings all make it so … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":33875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,22,8,28,18],"tags":[966,965,963,962,964,256,967,392],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33871"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33871"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36739,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33871\/revisions\/36739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}