6095 Stripes!

This is the latest dress I made, from one of the new patterns I picked up in The Great Pattern Haul that occurred recently...

At the same time that I bought a handful (or two) of new patterns, I found a lovely grey & multicolour striped linen-viscose blend on the sale table. It was cheap because there were a few random & unattractive slubs* in the fabric that would need to be avoided -- but I thought I could make it work, and I really liked the muted tones and soft feel of the fabric. It kind of reminds me of those Guatemalan pullovers that everyone wore when I was in university, but I wasn't going for that kind of hippie student vibe, so picked the clean lines of New Look 6095 to counteract any similarity.

This pattern gave me some difficulties. The aforementioned slubs were a bit of a problem, but I was able to either avoid them or get them into the seam allowances, except for one right on the hemline! Argh. And although I forgot to take any construction pics, I laid this one out pretty carefully to keep the stripes straight, which seemed to work, thank goodness! I also tried setting the sleeves in flat, which worked really well -- love the technique when possible.

Excuse the wrinkles, I took this picture
upon coming home from work

But, I seem to always have problems with sizing -- I chose size 16 according to my measurements, but the bodice is just way too big. Even the skirt feels slightly large. In fact, it was so roomy that I didn't even have to put in the zipper! (thus avoiding one of those Basic Skills Of Which I Am Afraid)

Still, it's not too big to wear, but again, I must belt it. Perhaps straight/a-line shifts just don't work for me, but I keep making them... In any case, I love the feel of this one on, even if it would be a bit more comfortable to have the bodice a little less shifty and slidey as I move. But if I toss on grey tights and a grey cardie, or my deep pink blazer which catches the tone of pink in the centre stripe (which I did this week), or my dusty blue corduroy jacket which is the exact tone of the grey-blue stripe, the wide neckline is both hidden and anchored, and this will work great as a multiseasonal dress.

One element that I am particularly proud of is the addition of in-seam pockets. I love a dress with pockets so added some cheery ones here. I repurposed most of an old linen blouse that I loved but that was worse for wear -- saved the buttons and used the brilliant blue for pockets, which worked wonderfully especially as they are the same weight as the dress fabric. I do love them. This was a pretty easy pattern overall, though, and now that I can see (and hopefully fix) some of the sizing issues, maybe I'll try again.

*Slub: A characteristic often associated with contemporary linen yarn is the presence of “slubs”, or small knots which occur randomly along its length. In the past, these slubs were considered defects associated with low quality. The finest linen had very consistent diameter threads, with no slubs.  Today, however, the presence of slubs is considered appealing, and fashion dictates that even the finest linens have these slubs (via http://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/linen/ )