Papercut Patterns Sequence dress in Atelier Brunette viscose
We just had a week off which gave me a chance to make this dress, which I’ve been plotting ever since I saw instagrammer Ria Beeson wear it at Edinburgh Frocktails (She doesn’t actually have a picture herself, but here’s a picture on someone else’s instagram - I’m not sure this is going to work as it’s a carousel post). It was my dress of the night! Hers is lengthened a bit which I didn’t do, and tied below the waist in flapper style, but otherwise I’m straight up copying!
It was not an unmitigated success unfortunately for a few reasons.
The fabric is really slippery and hence my cutting out was atrocious, and not a single piece properly aligned. I’ve never been tempted by the Atelier Brunette fabric before, though I’ve often admired it on other people, so this was my first time using it. I do really like it, it feels so soft, and it pressed beautifully, but it was a pain to get to lie straight, and everything is just a tiny bit off in the way this came together
I followed the instructions as written and they didn’t tell you to staystitch the neckline and wrap pieces, but I definitely should have, the fabric is so drapey and got very stretched ou. At least that’s what I think went wrong when I ended up with about ten cms excess fabric on the wrap pieces in comparison with the facing pieces which were interfaced and therefore not stretched out. After much consultation with my sewing pals I decided to just cut off the excess fabric. Which worked ok I guess but did leave me with a weird bump where the facing ends on the bottom of the wrap piece.
I hadn’t realised how much weight I’d put on round the middle, you can really tell and it doesn’t look great. I think I actually look a bit pregnant in some of these (I’m not!). I’m generally ok with having put on weight, getting older happens and there’s no point in getting annoyed about it, but changing shape so much does bother me if I’m honest. I think the reason is that I stopped my regular (minimal, but regular) yoga practice due to shoulder issues about 6 months ago, and that was obviously holding my stomach together. I’ve started again now, so fingers crossed I can get back to having a waist, or at least not look pregnant!
Despite all that though, I do like this dress enough to wear it, and in the summer I’ll be wearing it on its own which it is designed for. I do also intend to make another dress, or maybe the top version without all the mistakes to see what it looks like when done properly. But I think I’ll leave that for the spring!
