This dress is in time-out for now. I reinserted the new diamond - one side with pocket, 1 side without. The without side I did "correctly" - I ripped all the seams, tried to sew in the insert (more on THAT in a moment), then re-sewed the seams, running the side seam in 1 go. :sigh: Here, have some pictures:
This is the side done the way the pattern tells you to do it:
See that hole? Yeah....
Here's the whole pocket:
There are gaps on either side....
Here's the side with the pocket removed:
And IT has a hole, too!
Yes, the penguins are upside down. I'm not sure WHY, but that's the way it wanted to fit (but...if I attached the pocket to it, they were right-side up? I dunno WHAT'S going on here....
Here's the front, without the zip. There's a good 1" overlap, it looks like:
And the back:
Part of the problem that I am having is the shape of the inserts. They sew in as diamonds. The pattern drawing has diamonds. The photo of the 1 dress on the website shows diamonds. The insets? Are NOT diamonds - they have cut-out bits in the side corners. I kinda see what they are trying to get you to do - the pocket goes to the bottom corner, leaving a "bite" out (sort of "L" shaped) - with me so far? When you sew the inset in, you only sew in the top - the bottom is free, because you attach the pocket (which is sewn onto the bottom of the inset) to the pocket facing (which is already sewn to the bottom inset opening on the dress).
Problem (MY problem anyway): the bottom fits just fine. The top, though - it doesn't make it to the top corner. If I MAKE it fit (which I have done, by easing it in - which the pattern does NOT mention!), you still have that "L"- and it will NOT match up. I've tried matching up the bottom (which is already sewn to the facing, remember) - and it just WILL. NOT. FIT. :bangs head: No matter how I sew it in, no matter how I pin it, I still end up with a bit of the "L" that isn't attached to *anything*. The drawings in the pattern do NOT help - they don't show this part, they only show what it looks like after everything is sewn in - and *I* don't see any stitch lines on the "L". :sigh:
So. I am going back to the drawing board. I am going to re-trace the dress front and back as designed. THEN, before I cut it out (because I have 2 complete sets already cut out), I am going to lay it over the inserts, and trace the side curves (because this dress IS NOT straight-sided, oh no. It's slightly curved. Of COURSE it is.). I will then cut out the new dress pieces. (And don't forget I have had to Frankenstein this dress anyway, thanks to my big hips. I am going from a 38 (which, by the way, is NOT my bust size - it's my *over* bust size, so I still get to do some tinkering *there*. Fun stuff!) to a 46 (which....I am not sure is going to fit correctly *anyway* - the muslin looks awfully tight in the hip area.)
Tomorrow we are going to the outlet store. My budget is suddenly smaller (because I screwed up and put off applying for Herself's disability - MY fault. I didn't want to admit that she IS disabled, so I ignored it. Now, I am paying for it with less money each month. :sigh: SS takes FOREVER to decide disability cases, and they usually DENY it the first 2 or 3 times. :big sigh: MY fault...but after paying bills, I have $0.39 for groceries. Don't panic - SG's aunt will give me some money for her expenses (it goes to SG's account and pays her bills), and SG said I can have some of it, so groceries ARE covered, just not now. :shrug: It's not like I don't have a full pantry and freezer - it just means I need to use some of my fabric money for necessities today. But not all of it - darn it, some of that money is a payment on my sock machine, and THAT I am keeping for fabric.)
Anyway. Tomorrow I plan on getting as much muslin as I can (along with enough fabric for a couple more dresses) - then I will attempt muslin #3. It should go MUCH easier, since it's just a plain dress. I will fit THAT, make the changes to the modified pattern, THEN I will draw the diamond insets on the "finished" pattern, cut them out, add the 5/8" seam allowance to *them* (since it's already in the dress itself), and make muslin #4 (hopefully out of "real" fabric - but not my cherries! :lol:)...which should, if I've thought of everything, be a wearable dress. Finally. I'm thinking of doing muslin #5 (again in real, but not cherry fabric) WITH the pockets, using MY pattern pieces. We'll see.
So - that's where the dress stands at the moment. I did say I love a challenge, right? Because this? Is a challenge. Oh, and Hearth - thanks for finally pushing me to actually JOIN the pattern review site. I hadn't done so, because I have too many memberships and didn't want to add another time-sink. However...the 1 person who has attempted this dress had the same type of problems I am having with the diamonds. I honest think there's something screwy about the shape, but.....:shrug: I am not an expert or a pattern designer, and I'm sure there's some reason for the "L" cut-outs. *I* just can't SEE them.
OH, and to top everything else off...this AM Tigger and Chloe got into it AGAIN. I have no idea what sparked it - I was at the bar putting on my fitbit when it went from everything's-coming-up-roses to I-hate-you-and-want-to-EAT-you. SG came out and grabbed Chloe (she got him with 1 tooth on his finger, but immediately let go); I grabbed Tigger, who Chomped down on my leg. I kicked her (sorry, but that HURT), and she let go and lunged for Chloe AGAIN. :sigh: She's banished to the bedroom, Chloe is sort of repentant, and I have 5 tooth-marks on my leg. I've been bleeding since 5:00......yes, I hit it with peroxide (I am allergic, but what do you do?) AND tea-tree oil, and it's bled enough that any icky stuff that was in there is gone now, but...:sigh: It's slowed to a trickle now, but....I have a lovely bruise (I bruise at the drop of a hat, so that's nothing new) and a lovely set of teeth marks. The detectives can use it to positively ID the culprit, I guess....:lol: and :owowowowowowowow:
I am going to go knit for a few minutes. That's something I can do successfully. :lol:
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