Thursday, September 18, 2014

Gertie's Book for Better Sewing Shirtwaist Dress - Round One


Gertie's book for better sewing shirtwaist dress


Taking pictures remains my least favourite part of the sewing blog thing. Love reading them, love writing them, love sewing - hate being in front of the camera. I took like 20 shots with my auto-timer and ended up with two. But that's ok! I can still share my thoughts about this pattern and a few construction details!

Gertie's book for better sewing shirtwaist dress


Pattern Notes:

This is the Shirtwaist Dress from Gertie's Book for Better Sewing. This is on the third project I've tried from the book, and yesterday I just received Gertie Sews Vintage Casual. So many things from these two books that I want to make! This was a wearable muslin, so no changes except that I left the sleeves off. I just wasn't feeling the puff sleeves in my fabric (Edited to add I also shorted the dress by about 4 inches to make it mini instead of tea length). I made a bust 2 waist and hips 4, and honestly maybe should have gone up a size at the waist. It's very comfy because of the back shirring, but pulls forward at the side seams a bit.

I did have a few issues with the pattern. The collar fit is off on me in that the back collar piece sits so far back that you can't really see it from the front. Also the front facing at the collar has a tendency to pop out, a flaw I think might be an easy fix by just making the facing about an inch wider. The last issue I have with the pattern is that there seems to be some excess fabric around the shoulder area. I'm currently making a version for a friend and my muslin for her had that issue as well.

Positives for this pattern: It's extremely comfy, as I mentioned before! I really like that the shirring allows for a more vintage fitted silhouette but with lots of ease around the waist. Very nice to everyday dressing. This is one of the most comfortable dresses I have, so despite the minor fit issues it gets worn a lot. Like weekly. The cheap poly I used is actually starting to pill a little from how much I wear it! Second bonus: My boyfriend really likes it :) It's kind of silly but I was less than impressed with the dress when I finished it until he said "what a cute dress!" which caused my to change my opinion pretty fast... What can I say? It was a good complement.

I actually sewed a reasonable amount this summer so hopefully I can catch up on some more posts now that fall has begun to set in in Toronto. We shall see. As always thanks for checking out my post!  


5 comments:

  1. i am totally with you about taking pictures!! i am always so disappointed by the low quality of the pics i take by myself (or when i make my unwilling boyfriend play photographer). i have recently started to schedule "proper" photoshoots with a friend of mine, and the results are amazing! i even like standing in front of the camera, and she takes beautiful pics. the only negative is that it's not alwayseasy to find the time...
    about your dress! i LOVE it! i have been meaning to make this pattern from the second i received the book, but always get distracted by other patterns. but shirtdress season is upon us! thanks for the review, i'll definetely be making a muslin. i think gertie uses herself as a fit model, and i've heard she has broad shoulders. maybe that is why you get excess fabric in this area?

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    1. A photo shoot sounds like a good idea! I'm getting a little better about taking pictures but I'm always very impressed by the quality of other bloggers photos, it's a bit intimidating! But I think, worth it in the end because the whole sewing blog experience is very fun :)
      I'm glad you enjoyed the review :) I'm definitely a fan of the pattern despite it's issues, so I hope I encouraged you to give it a try. I've read that about the wide shoulders for Gertie's patterns (which other seem to be a pretty good fit otherwise, at least for me). My sultry sheaths had some weird shoulder fit issues as well. I might just take in the shoulders before making a muslin for my next Gertie pattern project!

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  2. the dress is super cute :) I love how it looks from the back :) I'll have to remember that idea with shirring ;)
    I don't like standing in front of the camera.. but compared to writing in English it's an easy thing to do! I'm lucky to have a sister to drag with me whenever I need photos.. we usually snap more than 100 pics, and then I pick ones where I look, hmmm, presentable :) I also did some photo shoots with my friends, but my sister is still my favorite person to work with :)

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    1. Thanks :)
      The pictures on your blog are really nice quality, your sister does a great job :)

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  3. I had exactly the same problems you mentioned (collar too far back, lapels not quite right, shoulders) when I made this dress a few months ago. I want to try another version - and try to fix some of the problems - and after seeing how great yours looks I think I'll try it in gingham! :)

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