Late Summer Party in Simplicity 1916

隣に住んでる大家さんちで行われるパーティにお呼ばれしたので、ワンピースを作りました。ホームパーティとかいうものではなく、ガーデンパーティなんだけど、ウェイターがシャンペンをトレーにのせてまわるような、結婚式ですか、みたいなテントでケータリングのお料理が出て、生バンドがついてくるようなパーティなのです。去年もお呼ばれしたんだけど、毎年恒例のサマーパーティなんだって。
型紙は去年カットソーを作るのに使ったシンプリシティの1916番。裾の丈を伸ばしてワンピースにしました。
布はストレッチレース。1メートル350円という激安布です。透けるので肌色のメッシュを裏につけています。
パーティでは庭の花がとてもきれいに咲いていました。

We were invited to our landlord's garden party next door and I made a dress for this occasion. Our landlord's party is not quite a home party, but rather a party with wait staff walking around with a champagne trey and tables with white table cloth under a giant tent (imagine an outside wedding) with catered food kind of party. The weather was gorgeous and so were his garden flowers.

The pattern is Simplicity 1916. I used this pattern last year and made a View D. This time, I lengthened the hem to make it a dress.

The fabric is nylon stretch lace. The fabric had 2-way stretch along the grain line so I cut the pattern pieces on cross-grain.

Because it is lace, though it's dense, there are "holes" in the design, so I underlined the bodice with nude color mesh. The right half of the below photo has the nude mesh underneath the fabric and the left half doesn't.

I wanted to use the mesh as lining with free-floating hem, but I could not wrap my head around to line the front bodice overlap. So the neck line seam, shoulder seam, and the front bodice waist seam are hidden inside the mesh and the stretch lace, but from then on, I treated the two fabric as one to attach sleeve and sewed side seams together.

I cut a size 12, narrowed shoulder by 1/2", shortened above waist by 3/4", and shortened sleeves by 2".

The dress hack was pretty simple. I just extended the side seam straight down until I got the length I wanted.

All the sewing was done with my serger and the coverstitch machine. My work space is pretty tight when I have my coverstitch machine out.

The only regret I have with this dress is the flower pattern on the front bodice. There are two identical flowers right next to each other at the cross-over. It really bugs me.

But other than that, I'm really happy with the dress. With empire waist and loose fitting around the waist, it's definitely a big dinner friendly dress.