Not So Practical.

Tah Dah! My second Sew for Victory project is finished and photographed! And in the knick of time. Thank goodness for extended deadlines. Thanks, Rochelle!

In contrast to my forties flavored blouse, this dress is about as far from practical as I imagined it would be.  Still, I'm OH SO GLAD I decided to sew it. It's pretty fun-tastic and pushed me outside my comfort zone. 

If I'm being completely honest, up until I reviewed the pictures for this post, I wasn't sure I would ever wear this dress again. When I first put it on I felt really uncomfortable, and pretty costume-y. 

But, there might be an occasion when I could bust this out; I can't think of any off-hand, but it's possible. 

There are a lot of things I really like. To start, the silhouette is MAJOR flattering; it hugs and clings in the right spots and doesn't in the wrong ones. Also, the bust line is beautiful and really dramatic. And the color(s).... I think I need to wear more blue; it's working for me. 

The fit is good, not great. I have some shoulder gap that needs tightening. Also, I could have benefited from shortening the length of the bodice a smidgen; which I think would have eliminated the wrinkling over the hip (improved posture might also help). 

Also, I prefer a more fitted sleeve. So, I would adjust that accordingly in the future. 

Construction was fairly straight-forward and fuss-free. I did need to hand sew the bust seam, because it was too bulky to run through my machine. It wouldn't be a problem on single layers of fabric, but the addition of the lace overlay made things too dense to feed under my presser-foot. 

My favorite aspect of the way this pattern is designed is that it was created with ZERO facing pieces. This, of course, meant self-bias and top-stitching; a fair trade, in my opinion. The pattern is Companion Butterick 2257. I bought it off eBay a while ago from a seller who found a pile of unused patterns in an abandoned shop (Can you imagine?!?!)  It's the only one like it I've seen and I fought to have it. Then, by some strange twist of fate, the post office screwed up shipment of my parcel; the next thing I knew, the seller had refunded my purchase cost AND reshipped the pattern to me. AMAZING.  We were meant to be together and we always will. 

My main fabric is a rayon faille. I bought it a while back for a project I never got around to. It has a good amount of stretch to it- enough that I was able to completely eliminate the side closure and still maintain the ability to pull this dress on and off over my head. The lace is also a stretch fabric, so it's equally accommodating. 

Before I wrap things up, I want to say a HUGE *THANK YOU!* to Rochelle for hosting all of us during the progress of this SAL. It's been fun. Let's do it again sometime! Also, if you're hungry for more forties flare, hop over to the Flckr group and see all the outstanding contributions! I'll be back later with the March Giveaway winner. See you soon!