I have been quiet for a few days due to the weather conditions that made it difficult to take pictures and also because I was busy sewing after work or reading your blogs!

I am happy to finally show you the my Mad Men dress part of the Presser Foot sew-along. Despite the wintery conditions I decided to be brave and get ready for summer using some linen from my stash (that explains the wrinkles!). And also brave to be wearing those short sleeves outside in winter… I am still getting goose bumps!

I am pretty happy with how it turned out and the pattern was not difficult to reproduce. I only struggled with the neckline orientation at the back… I made it point towards the zipper instead of the arms. I am clearly spatially impaired (!). Now that I have mastered the neckline technique, I would be happy to help you with it if you don’t have the pattern and would like to make it.

I also made a slight variation…no back vent but a regular slit… just because I didn’t notice it was constructed like that. I actually think a back vent is much nicer!

And since we are on the slit… I would like to share an issue with the dress… I was lazy not to pre-wash the lining despite what everybody says and my mom always taught me… and guess what? the lining shrank.  And if you want to get the full story… I took the pictures after too many Christmas lunches and dinners so I was totally convinced I put on weight on my thighs and my bum. I guess I was too proud to admit that my not having washed the fabric was the problem or just too ashamed for having indulged so much at Christmas.

Finally, I took my measurements and compared them with those I had previously taken… definitely the fabric shrank! So, I will now have to widen the sides a bit before I can wear the dress in public.

The life of a seamstress is really hard sometimes ;o)

Do you always pre-wash your fabric?