From Flop to Frippery

By way of a Tina Givens Meri dress pattern, no doubt.  You'll never know the places you'll go when diving into one of these adventures.

~ But I never thought I'd end up here! ~

Oh my.  You wouldn't either if you checked out the pattern picture.  But then again, if you've worked with these patterns, you probably know modifications, alterations and (for me) way out remedies are the name of the game.  Which is kind of why I like them.

~ I'm feel so liberated now ~

I started out with the least favorite fabric I had on hand in case it turns out to be a dud.  This is a double border ITY knit, of all things.   I try to figure out what size to use, but sometimes its rather difficult to do based on the pattern pieces when they're not consistent.  This dress used one piece from center front to center back.  In other words, there's no side seams.

~ just hanging out here ~

Shoulder seams didn't line up, the usual stuff.  I took up the shoulder seams 4 inches on each side because both the underarms and the neckline were soooo low.   The pattern photograph shows a high neckline.  So much for that.

~ another ready for take-off picture ~

It was supposed to be sleeveless, but since the armholes were wonky, I decided to use the leftover angled pieces as sleeves.  They were already perfectly cut for kimono sleeves.  So voila, on they went.  That was a surprise.  Now I had a tribal kaftan, kimono-esque dress.

I'm starting to like this thing.  It just needs something for that weird neckline, plus I don't like the way the center front flares out with excess fabric.  hmmm.

~ cruising ~

After a couple false starts on necklines, I found two long narrow triangular scraps of the fabric that fit together perfectly to form a neckline with ties.  I attached it like you would a bias binding and then finagled a way to sew the tie ends inside out, yada, yada, yada.  So there we are.

This thing is so much fun to wear, especially on a breezy day.  It's like instant drama.

And wouldn't ya know it.  I had the perfect shoes to wear with it.

~ screaming orange and magenta XOXO shoes from ebay ~

I'll be joining Patti and the Visibles at Not Dead Yet Style (finally), Catherine's I Will Wear What I Like and Cherie's Shoe and Tell when they all go live.  Hope to see you there.