Black and Gold

As I mentioned a while back, a friend of mine got married last last November, and I made these lovebirds for the bridal shower. I also made a dress to wear to the wedding since I didn't have anything that seemed wholly appropriate for a fall wedding.

They got married at a really beautiful estate in Temecula, CA, there were even peacocks wandering the grounds!

There was even this really neat hedge maze that you could run around in!



Here's the pattern I used for the dress - a vintage pattern from an estate sale although now reprinted. As you can see, it's got a faux wrap style that I liked a lot just from looking at the illustration.

Details:
Pattern: Butterick 6582, view C
Size: Cut out a 12 but graded down to about an 8? Obviously I didn't quite realize about Big 4 design ease when I found the pattern so I did think a 12 had a chance of fitting.
Fabric: 2 yards of black and gold-flecked crinkle-texture polyester charmeuse from Yardage Town, 2 yards of black poly posh lining from JoAnn
Notions: 22" black invisible zipper
Size Alterations: I "graded" down to maybe about an 8, but all that really means is that I eyeballed about 5/8" - 1" in from the edge of the pattern where appropriate
Design Changes: "Drafted" a full lining instead of facings, side zipper changed to CB zipper
Techniques used: Clean finish lining, installing an invisible zipper
Construction Notes: Once again working on the clean finish method, so only sort of following the pattern instructions. Hand sewed the lining to the zipper once it was installed in the fashion fabric because I still can't figure that shit out (I will probably keep this comment in all my construction notes until the end of time because do not understand).
Will you make it again? I don't know. Initially, I was pretty jazzed about how this turned out, but after some examination of the pictures/pattern, I don't think I did this pattern justice. Which means maybe I should revisit it. The bodice is supposed to be a faux-wrap style but not surplice. I have severely over-fit the bodice to the point where I've removed all the illusion that is supposed to look like a wrap. I am still loving the pattern illustration with the wide neckline and high wrap style, so I may try again in some kind of drapey but casual fabric, but change it so that weird little triangle on the left shoulder is a fully wrapped bodice?
Final thoughts: I think having re-examined it for fit, it's not great, but I loved it then and I'm certainly not ashamed of it as it is approximately the third garment I ever made.