Let me introduce you to my new favorite dress! The Sigma Dress by Papercut Patterns.
One of my new year's resolutions this year was to sew for me more and I was so thrilled when Hayley of Welcome to the Mouse House and Celina of Petit a Petit & Family asked me to take part in their awesome Shades of Me Sewing Series! We got assigned a color and got to sew an outfit in that colorway for ourselves! I was so in!
My color was WHITE. Say what? I don't wear white unless you count some white tees, a cardi and my wedding dress...lol. But I quickly realized we were allowed to do any color mixed with white so I got my happy dance on when I realized I could sew with grey! Yes please! I have been hoarding Robert Kaufman Chambray in Pepper for months now and happily cut into it to make my chosen pattern. I even added a white zipper in there and sewed with white thread to keep the white vibe going..lol.
But before I tell you of my sincere love of Papercut Patterns I must tell you a story about the journey this series has taken me on. You see when I finally sat down to chose an awesome pattern for myself my brain went cray cray. I spent weeks and I mean weeks, poring over the internet searching for what I wanted to make. I've collected a great collection of adult sewing patterns over the last few months in anticipation of making more of a "handmade wardrobe" for myself this year but even those weren't making me excited.
I finally decided on a dress (that will remain unnamed for now) and happily went to sew it. Let me just tell you - this dress I dreamed of myself looking so good in quickly turned into the dress from hell. No word of a lie. I hate this dress so bad I am seriously going to cut it up and then run it over with my car. This dress took over my life like a demon possessing a soul. I spent all my work time and personal time all last week sewing like a crazy woman on the dress. I refused to give up. But the dress fought me back harder every time. Let me just say the fit on that dress is never going to happen. The dress is not gonna happen. I. Altered. Everything.
By the time I got to Friday night (of last week, yes, it was that long) I had changed the whole dress. New bust darts, new princess seams, added back neck darts, took in back seams, altered straps and the list goes on - still horrid! Our family sat down to dinner on Friday and I just knew I had gone over to the dark side of sewing. I hadn't done my hair in days, I was covered in thread and sewing in my bra and undies (dont' judge me, I got sick of taking my clothes off every time I altered the dress) - I'm keeping it real here folks, and snapping at any poor child or adult who dare speak to me. So when my hubby nicely said "Why don't you just make a new dress?" I went off the deep end. Doesn't he know how much I've worked on this dress? How could I let IT win? I couldn't possibly give up now when I spent so many hours fighting this dress! I loved the fabric too much to let it go!
He went out that evening and as the house grew quiet I sat down at my Pfaff and just cried. I had to let it go. I knew I couldn't win and get this post done in time. I am proud to say I kicked that damn dress across the room, shoved it in a bin and opened up the AWESOME Papercut Pattern I had so lovingly ordered weeks earlier (not thinking it would make it in time for this competition) that literally had just arrived the day before. It was a sign. The packaging - I will save that for another post but let me just say - OH MY! My happy little designer heart raced like xmas morning! I just about fainted with sheer happiness. Clear instructions, personal touches, great fit and a lovely design. Could you say it saved me from sewing insanity? Yes. It. Did.
Did I have to make any adjustments? Not a single one and it feels damn good to type that after the Hell Dress debacle above. I'm sure in hindsight I could tweak the front armhole fit a tad (it has a bit of extra fabric there above the boob) but other than that - love it. I love sewing invisible zippers, I loved the pocket detail and the front gather....swoon. I loved it so much I wore it out the next day and showed it off to all my friends. That dress will forever be cherished in my wardrobe. I will always remember how it pulled me out of a bad place and made me admit to my husband he was right (a tough thing to do in our house). I should have just started a new dress days before that and moved on with it. You live and you learn. I will never spend that much time altering the fit on a dress for myself ever again. Never.
What else did I learn? That even though I am trying hard right now to get into shape I am learning to enjoy sewing for my curves and finding the clothing to make that is flattering to me. There is nothing like wearing a garment that was made to fit your body. Speaking from a gal who has curves that finds shopping in stores a headache it's a breath of fresh air. I can't wait to make more! I have another Papercut Pattern on it's way to me as I type this and got my hair cut last night because after I saw these pics I realized the hairdresser in me could not let this horrid hairdo continue any longer.
Have you made a Sigma Dress? Have you sewn with Papercut Patterns before? I'd love to hear about it!
Dress: Sigma Dress from Papercut Patterns
Size Made: Large for the Bodice graded up to an XL for the Skirt
Size Made: Large for the Bodice graded up to an XL for the Skirt
Dress Fabric: Robert Kaufman Interweave Chambray in Pepper
Boots: Forever 21
Don't forget to follow along with the rest of the Shades of Me Series! So many fun bloggers joining in! And a big thank you to Celina and Hayley for having me along on the tour!
