Spider fabric summer sun-dress

Here is yet another summer dress. I am seriously going for the summer dresses this year!

This is McCall's 6740. I used this fabric last summer to make my River Island skirt copy. This orange spider print is meant to be for halloween I think, but makes a lovely summery cotton fabric. I had quite a bit left over from my skirt, so decided to try to tackle this dress which I started a year or so ago. It was part sewn last summer, but then left for ages.


For the whole time when I could not sew after having my operation for my hip, I looked at this dress on my table and it has really bugged me for months that its still unfinished. Then one of my New Years resolutions was to finish this dress. This half-made orange cotton spider print dress is intended after all to be a summer dress. I started this last summer and at the start of last year it was still only half sewn.It has even then taken me weeks where I have sewn a little bit then left it again.

 I found this very difficult to sew. It stretched me!

 It is actually meant to have buttons down the front. I bought loads of buttos for this but n the end did not think any of them would work for what I wanted to achieve. Never mind. It increased my stash of nice buttons anyway and I will use them all eventually. In the end I decided to use a long open ended zip instead. Well I hate button hole sewing and on top of that the zip kind of "punks it up" which I definitely like.

 Its hard to see here but this has godets all around except for the centre back seam.

 The hardest bit was making the cups look right at the side seams. One side is actually slightly lower than the other but it seems to be hard to see even if you know its there so thats not too bad.

 

Its a high low skirt. 

 Its easier to see how full this actually is at the back than at the sides and front.

 

 If I make this again I will swap the fiddly spagetti  straps for pre-made stretch bra straps. I found it difficult to get them the right length and having adjustable straps would be a bonus I think and would not at all detract from the overall look.

This one really feels like I have achieved something, because despite taking ages, it also took lots of corrections to get the fit right and unpicking and resewing and even some hand sewing which I hate.

I had great New Year intentions to get a head start on my summer wardrobe by finishing this dress. Well, finally it is finished though really its because of lockdown and its actually half way through summer already. Anyway, I am very glad to be able to say I finished this dress, and will get to wear it this year even if with a Tshirt under it because after these pictures were taken the weather has changed and its cold again.

Take care and stay safe

Bracken.