As soon as I first saw this dress, about a year ago, I knew that this was the dress I was looking for. Only, I also knew that I was not going to have time to make it before I went the France. I dreamed of sewing this whist in France, but soon realised that finding a working sewing machine was going to be too difficult in Chamonix.
When I went to work in Scotland, I dragged my sewing machine all the way up there, along with my luggage on the bus. I ordered the pattern and fabric but, realised that I was not going to have time to make this and do a good job between shifts. But I took the month of October off work and went to stay at my parents, where I finally completed my first Sureau.
It was not the most ideal situation to try to sew in. There is very little space and I had to complete it in small chunks, whilst my parents were out. So one sewing session went something like this:-
- collect my sewing stuff from the spare room,
- unpacked all on the living room table,
- sew for 15 mins,
- pack it all back up again and restore in the spare room.
It took me nearly 3 week working like this to produce two toils of the bodice and the final dress.
The final dress is very wearable, unlike most of the dresses which have come before. I decided not to make any hacks on the pattern, and went online to order a dark blue chambray (one of the recommended fabric). I had not done any sewing in such a long time and my projects usually fail due to poor fabric choices, so following the pattern seemed like the sensible thing to do.
The only alterations I made was to grade the pattern from a size 40 on the bust to a 44 (and a bit) on the waist, and added 2 cm to the bodice. If I was to make this again I would not lengthen to the bodice. The pattern is actually good as it is, it took me two toils trying to guest where alterations would be needed to realise that I just needed to expand the waist.
These photos are very over exposed, the dress is actually dark blue. I took them in a hurry as I was getting ready to leave for London. I tried darkening the photos as much as I could, but any more the colours get really strange.
So I am now in London, staying in a 15 bed dorm whilst I try to find a new job and somewhere to live. I am really hoping I can land my self a good job quickly. I have been pretty lucky with jobs over the last year. I think my best policy is not to except a job which I know I am going to hate, I don't want to go back to factory hell, any time soon.
Do you know if there is somewhere in Sallanches I'd be able to buy replacement sewing machine needles? Just snapped mine halfway through making some curtains! Thanks.
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