Some Plans for Spring and a New Version of the HP Three Graces Tee

Getting back in the sewing room has made me start thinking about what I would like to sew, rather than just finishing things that were already lying around the sewing room.  I go to Anthropologie for inspiration quite a bit.  You can go look at the fashion shows on Style.com...but those are a bit more avant garde than what I can wear to work smack in the middle of the country.  So, I tend to default to the Anthropologie-style quite often since it is not as staid as Ann Taylor and Talbots, but still appropriate for my lifestyle.

Poking around the Anthropologie site the other day, I stumbled on this dress:

I really love the ease of it.  So pretty!  But, there are three problems with it:

1. It is yellow.  No offense to those who like yellow, but I look like Walking Dead in yellow.
2. It has a gathered skirt.  Gathered skirt, plus wide hips and big butt equals unflattering.
3. It is $398.00.  Three hundred-WHA?  It's not even a complex pattern. I bet every piece in there is just a gathered rectangle!  $398.00?????

Aaaannnyway....December 2011, this pattern was in BurdaStyle:

There are a couple of things that make this dress a little bit better than the version in Anthropologie:

1. The skirt is not gathered all the way around, it is only gathered at the center front and center back.
2. Look at those adorable sleeves!
3. Seams for shaping in the bodice, not just gathering.

I also have a length of charmeuse that I think would be super-cute as a dress, and...is not yellow:

Isn't that fabric cute?  And let's face it, I was probably just going to make ANOTHER pussy-bow blouse with it.  To go with the 4 already in my closet.

In other sewing, I finished a version of the HotPatterns Classix Nouveau Three Graces Tee that had been lying around the sewing room:

I used a rayon jersey burn-out that was much more sheer than it had appeared online.  So I thought the draping and multiple layers on the front of the shirt would help prevent show-through.  You can see just how sheer the fabric is here:




the back remains pretty sheer, but a cami underneath would be just fine:


























I did make some minor changes to the pattern.  I had made this once before, and while I was happy with the way it looked I found that the "cowliness" of the neckline bothered me.  Combined with all the crossover, that cowl added a lot of fabric to the front of the shirt, and I found myself fiddling with it all the time and eventually safetypinning it down under the drape.

So, I altered the front pattern piece to be more of a scoop neck that was hidden behind the drape rather than a cowl:

To do this, I just redrew the center front piece:

I also made one other minor change to the construction, and that was to sew down the back facing.  I really like the back neck facing on these shirts, but I don't know if it is my fabric, or my choice in interfacing or what, but that facing ALWAYS wads up on my shirts.  So, I sewed it down: