Teach me fashion layer dress

Hi
I bought this pattern during indie pattern month. I was too busy with life at the time to make it.
I already had the fabric which I have used for various items here:
http://brackencrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/20-green-leather-look-leggings.html 
and
http://brackencrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/25-red-faux-leather-trousers.html
and
http://brackencrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/24-red-lace-hoody-burdastyle-012016.html 
And best of all these side stripe leggings:
http://brackencrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/red-and-black-faux-leather-leggings.html

So I already have loads of leather leggings so I really need to use this fabric for something else.

 

Really I used this fabric for this pattern because it was available and I wanted to make the dress for Christmas. I think it works very well in faux leather for a winter dress. Its a woven stretch coated fabric which I bought a couple of years ago off ebay. I actually ended up with loads of it very cheap because I won several different lots of this in different colours from between 99p for 3m and up to £4 for 2m depending on colour. Anyway quite a bargain. I had no idea what I would do with it it was just an interesting fabric to play with at an affordable price. Unfortunately the only invisible zip I have that was long enough is black and I did not want to buy anything for this because I lost my job through no fault of my own the other week. I was temping and now right before Christmas I am out of work. I do like being at home in the cold weather with my dogs and being able to make things like this but really I would rather be in work. Still life does not always give what you expect and in the end I have a new dress which I would never afford to buy right now and its a lovely little dress for Christmas.

Also I like this pattern because I usually make Burda and it seems the skirts are always very long for me. I hate just chopping off the bottom to shorten them because fabric is expensive even when you manage to pick it up cheap off ebay. I do not wnat to waste my fabric so I leave them the length they should be ad that means I do not wear them as much as I could. I possibly need to address this and start cutting them shorter. Now I have made this one I know the length I like. This skirt length I like a lot. Its very wearable.

I learned a new technique here too because I have never bagged out armholes before when inserting a  lining/facing. Great technique. This is the inside:

I did have to make two versions of the back because I did not understand the wriiten instructions and had lost the printout of the line drawing so the first version has a very long back dart. It was only when I watched the Youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghchQiv2NDY
I realised what was going on. I marked the darts as it says but its hard to work out what to do then you see the shoulder darts being sewn and I clicked.
Once I realised after I had sewn it wrong I made anther one because I had lots of extra fabric. You cannot really make a mistake with this faux leather because it leaves a mark so when you sew that is it. No unpicking. So even with pinning you need to do it inside the seam allowance. I did sew through to makrk the darts as the video says but did not tack so it was just a single stitch so very approximate really. So this back is my second attemp. Front and panel only first attempt thank goodess cos i do not have enough red to repeat that bit. Still a bit of a waste but when I had sewn a new one correctly I realised it ended up the same shape so I am going to make a second dress but without the layer = have yet to decide exactly what fabric the front will be.

I think I made the front panel too long because I had difficulty managing to hem the blue dress at the end so next time I would make this shorter. I like it tho. The hem is a bit rubbish and the darts could be better but its a nice new dress for Christmas when I am strapped for cash.
I did not press this very well hence its a bit creased which I hope will hang out. I was a bit worried I will lose the plastic coating which is what makes it look like leather so I only used a very cool iron. If I maded this in an uncoated fabric I think I might get a better finish but all in all I think I am going to live in this over Christmas this year.  Its also quite warm despite being sleeveless. Of course with a lace or mesh top under it I could also look good with sleeves so I need to make a mesh top next to wear underneath.

Thanks for visiting

Bracken