For It's a Jolly Good Red, Black, and Yellow




Ah....the 90's and still a happy time. Baywatch, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, The Nanny, Mariah Carey singing at her best, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Two fears I want to overcome: (1) bounded buttonholes and (2) fully lined dress. I already have tackled fear #1 when I made my 60's Fabiani dress. Now it is about time tackle fear #2. The only time I sewed a lining for a dress was when I sewed Heather's retro 40's dress. I actually have not sewn a fully lined dress for myself.

This is officially my first fully lined dress!



Pattern Description
From 1997, "Misses' lined dresses: Fitted dress has darts and back zipper; view B is sleeveless with front yoke that forms opening." I won this pattern for a dollar at e*ay.


Size
12-14-16. I sewed a 14. I should have sized down to a 12! I could have done away with the zipper!


Fabric Used
Pucci-esque printed cotton with slight stretch from Fashion Fabrics Club.


Favorite Features
*Elliptical opening below yoke
*Curved silhouette
*Fully lined
*Darts at sides of bust
*60's retro style. I recall seeing a 60's vintage pattern with similar details.
*Few pattern pieces to work with: front yoke, front (below yoke), back.


Not-so-favorite features
*Not as fitted as appears on the envelope
*More ease than expected
*Construction of the shoulder seams. The front and back are joined at the shoulders well after attaching the lining and zipper. Joining the front yoke and the back at the shoulders was challenging due to the limited length of the edges to sew together with the lining attached. The edges of the lining are slipstitched.


Directions
The directions and illustrations were clear and straightforward. This is really an easy dress. The lining just adds a little more challenge. Once one section was sewn, the corresponding lining was sewn the same way.

The side bust darts are created by pinning each slash along the stitch lines given in the pattern piece.

There was staystitching at the necklines, armholes, and between the marked circles at the yoke and the upper edge of the front (below the yoke).

I opened out the yoke and bottom linings to sew them together and to sew their corresponding fabric pieces together.

The yoke and the bottom front were clipped at the dots (where the yoke and the bottom front align) up to the seam allowance. It was easy to sew them together from the sides to the dots, leaving the middle section unsewn so that the elliptical slit is formed. The tricky part was including the lining (sewn the same way as the yoke and front) while paying attention to sewing to the clipped seams at the dots and preventing the bunching at the corners.


Modifications
*I used an invisible zipper

*Instead of hand-sewing the lining to the edge of the zipper and for a nicer finish, I sewed the lining to the dress right sides together, being careful not to catch the zipper teeth.

*I did not sew the lining hem to the dress.


Conclusion
If I do sew this dress again, I would sew it in a solid color as pictured on the model for a more serious look. After an overall positive experience with this 90's dress, I'm looking forward to making more lined dresses!