Sewing for Dummies Dress:
Okay,
here is an example of a failed attempt at a new pattern. This is a
"Sewing for Dummies" pattern for
Barbie clothes. I picked the little sun dress to start with
because it looked the easiest out of the set.
This was my first time dealing with darts. it was also the first time using a store bought pattern.
The first time through I just followed the pattern instructions- YIKES!
First off, the neckline is supposed to be more of a soft V-neck not a scoop. The darts are a disaster and my shoulder seams are pathetic! It doesn't fit the doll well either. The bottom hem is about the only thing on the dress that looks decent.
So for my second attempt - the first thing I did was chat with a friend who knows how to sew. She gave me quite a few pointers to help with my problem areas. I also searched online for sewing tips and instructions, to see if I could gather more information than what the Sewing for Dummies pattern offered.
Armed with the additional information, I made a second dress - the only modification I made to the pattern was to lengthen the dress (my girls have enough mini-skirts!)
The dress came out MUCH better the second time, but
you'll notice it is NOT a Barbie modeling. When I finished the
dress (making sure I followed the sewing lines exactly) the dress still
didn't fit the doll right. It seemed to be a cross between two
different Barbie body styles - the darts matched the larger busted
(older body) but the hips were wider and lower (the newer body).
So I went and found a doll among my collection that fit the proportions
of the dress better.
The good news is - these patterns will work well for some dolls
that I thought I would have problems finding clothes for. The bad news
is - if I want to use them for Barbie, I will have to modify the
patterns (not something I'm good at!)
Here you can see that even with the second attempt, My neckline and shoulder seams aren't the best. Though the neckline does look more like a V-neck style than before.
I obviously still need practice with sewing along curves. But considering this is only dress #2 from the pattern and only about the 4th time I've used my sewing machine - I'm pretty happy with the results.
The darts are perfect! Yippie! now I won't cringe when a pattern calls for a dart.
I've gotten a lot more helpful hints from other friends on how to improve a few things. So I have high hopes for my next one turning out as a useable fashion!
