Sew Colette 2.0, Work(s) in Progress & a Bit of Whining

I started a new project yesterday and I’m quite frustrated with it. Since Sew Colette 2.0 the Macaron dress got a time extension, I thought I’d use the second chance to finally get one made up for myself. I’ve had a couple of barriers to getting started (I planned to join this sew-along as soon as they announced that Macaron was going to be the next pattern for Sew Colette 2.0). For one, even though I own a few Colette patterns, including the book, I hadn’t used any of them yet, so I wasn’t sure how the sizing was going to work out. Then I told myself to get over it; it isn’t any different than altering any other pattern, just measure, slash and spread. The second barrier was not a lack of ideas about what I wanted to make it from, but having too many ideas and difficulty paring them down. Given that I wasn’t sure about the sizing, I didn’t necessarily want to use anything expensive, but I also didn’t want to use anything I didn’t love as a wearable muslin because I think that would affect how I would feel about making another dress out of different fabric later.

There’s the fabric choices I finally came up with. 2 fabrics that I found in a Humane Society Thrift shop in Salem recently (yeah for relatively cheap fabric for me and money for them to feed the kitty cats that Pete won’t let me adopt don’t have homes yet). Not expensive, but I think they look cute. They are probably just quilting cotton, but are easy to sew. Nothing about these fabrics is trendy (the wrong color blue and the floral print is minuscule instead of over-sized), so I asked Pete if it was going to look more cute/quirky, or just plain obviously home-made. Diplomatically, he went with cute/quirky (smart man).

There’s a few shots of the insides. I’m pretty happy with how the overall construction is turning out. I love some of the design details in the pattern, like pockets in the front pleats instead of in the side seams. Also, the way the bodice attaches to the yoke is really, really easy. I don’t think that’s how the “big 4” instructions would have had it done, but now I know why it looks so perfectly crisp and symmetrical across the top in almost every version I’ve seen in photos. The fabric isn’t prone to fraying, so I’m just pinking most of the edges instead of serging, with the exception of the side seams and around the armscyes.

There’s the shot of what I’m most unhappy about. I wasn’t left with enough fabric to have just re-done it when I noticed that my bodice alterations led to a lot more length in the front than in the back. In fact, I had to cut the back bodice in two pieces with a center seam as it was. I will point out that this is not the Colette Pattern company’s fault. This is strictly due to an oversight on my part while altering this pattern. Ok, I can put it in perspective. It is under my arm. In a world where ready-to-wear has convinced the masses that garments with stripes never match at the seams, this probably won’t be noticed by most people, especially since winter is coming and since this is a short-sleeved dress, it will probably have a cardigan thrown over it for the next 9 months. It really bothers me though. Also, as I tried on during construction last night, I noted that the skirt seems like it will end up being awfully tight. Maybe it was just the potato chips I ate with the children before I started sewing, but I’m getting the feeling that I should have made the entire dress one size bigger. It was late last night though when I started thinking all this, and I was getting tired. Maybe it was just an overall fatigue making me pessimistic about this project. Hopefully I’ll finish it up today and if nothing else, get it off my sewing desk so I don’t have to think about it anymore. Then I can get back to my other work-in-progress.


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3 responses to “Sew Colette 2.0, Work(s) in Progress & a Bit of Whining”

  1. ShanniLoves Avatar

    I've struggled with my Macaron as well. 6 muslins later and I finally got the fit down. So happy for the extension!

  2. Carolyn Avatar

    6 muslins! That's perseverance.

  3. ShanniLoves Avatar

    Well I might add all 6 weren't full muslins…5 where the bodice only.

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