Hi this is post number 2 the Doris Dress this seems to be a rather unappreciated dress in the Sewoverit range, when googling it not a lot came back not even from the Sewoverit website.

I picked this dress because it used back ties for shaping/sizing an because of the steroids I’m on I am a peculiar shape at the moment so I didn’t want any thing too fitted.

I knew exactly which fabric I wanted to use, I was very lucky in that it was still in my sewing room, unlike half of my fabric which still in the loft.

At the time of the original brain bleed, we were still waiting for the painting to be finished, so we could bring my crafting ‘stuff’ back into my room.

If I remember rightly I bought the fabric at one of the knitting and stitching shows I think it is polyester, it is black with purple flowers. I had started tracing the pattern between hospital stays, but unfortunately not only would it have been the wrong size, it had got catted which means that even though I folded it up and put it on a shelf the cats knocked it on the floor, so the dog could chew it up. 😦 in the end I just cut the pattern pieces out.

(From the Sewoverit website)

Doris Dress is semi-fitted with a flattering scooped neck bodice, bust pleats for delicate shaping and floaty grown-on sleeves. The waist can be left unfitted for warmer days, or cinched in at the back with the attached ties or fixed back belt.

The fluted panelled skirt has two length variations – short and cute above the knee, or an elegant below the knee option. The Doris Dress closes with a concealed zip in the side seam and has an optional buttonhole closure at the centre front. The bodice is finished with facings for a neat finish on the inside.

I installed it as a lapped zipper, to be honest I’ve never installed an invisible zipper that hasn’t broken at totally the wrong time, and it has had to be replaced, they might look really nice, but unreliable.

The main dress went together very easy, the instructions had you overlock the edges as you went along, I briefly toyed with french seams but my hands while fine for guiding fabric through the sewing machine, are too unsteady for trimming the seams. I had a problem with hemming the sleeves and hemming, the instructions were iron over the edge and stitch, because it was polyester it wouldn’t hold a crease.I had to do the hem twice, I finished the bottom edge by overlocking it then just folding over and stitching down.

Apart from the hem which is surprisingly long the dress was really easy to put together, as I mentioned above I had to do the hem twice, the first time I tried to do a small hem by eye, usually I would have had no problem with this, but with the shaky left hand it was uneven and bumpy. Even while I was stitching it I knew it was a mistake but still I kept going instead of just unpicking a small bit and going with the second choice which looks a lot better, and was easier.