Pattern Review: Style 3867

Back in March, I picked up a number of presents for myself at the second hand store, one of which was this pattern: Style 3867 view 2 (the striped version on the left).

It's a super simple dress that I decided to make harder for myself by lining it and adding a zipper. I ended up taking the zipper out and cutting back the sleeves on the lining, but otherwise, it ended up working out very well.

This sack like style is not what I gravitate towards. Having a straighter body type with a smaller chest generally needs some sort of waist definition, hence the skinny tie belt.







Here it is from the front:

The fabric was found on the same trip to goodwill. $6 for 3 metres. It's a bit busy to see the lines of the dress, so I'll show you the lining:

 

The pattern doesn't call for a lining, but it's easier than wearing a slip so I found this yellow poly charmeuse. I cut the lining straight from pattern minus the facings, but it was showing unevenly at the sleeves and I was contemplating taking it out all together, but decided to just cut back the sleeves and give it a narrow hem at the sleeves and at the bottom.I think the yellow is a nice surprise if it happens to peek out.

As mentioned earlier, I did put a zipper in the back but realized when it was half in that I could pull it easily over my head and I would rather not have the stiffness of the zipper giving me weird pouches in the back when it was belted. Speaking of belts, I ran out of time to find a belt, so I made a skinny tie belt. The fabric is so drapey and slippery that I needed thread loops at the sides.

One last pick before the official review. My friend and I at the cast party for The Producers:














Official Pattern Review:

Pattern Description: 

All models have gathered skirt and top stitching. Model 1 and 2 have extended shoulder line. Model 2 has "V" shaped neckline

Pattern Sizing
Three size pattern (10,12, and 14) I made a 12

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?

It's so basic that I didn't use them. I also added lining.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

It's very easy to whip together

Fabric Used:

Some sort of polyester with the weight of crepe. The lining is a poly charmeuse. Both have a great drape.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

Added lining and did a wide upper back adjustment of 3/8".

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I might sew it again. I might also use it without the skirt and just make it as a shirt. Maybe as the base of a colour blocking experiment.

Conclusion: 

This is a simple pattern. Although it isn't available anymore, I'm sure there are a few Burda sack dresses that are similar or that could be modified. It's really just a rectangle with a larger rectangle gathered and attached the bottom. 

Costumes!

In case anyone is interested, I'm posting my costumes from The Producers.  I wish I could show you all of them. For those of you who've seen the stage show or the movie. You can imagine the amount of work that goes into some of these.

I had 7 costumes and 2 wigs. Most cast members had a list that was fairly similar. 

First nighter: 

As Ulla: 

Funny story: In not one, but two performances, my microphone pack (about the size of your palm) which was clipped onto my tights, slipped off and slid down my back, settling in the bum area of my leotard for almost the entire scene and my one solo song, giving new meaning to "If You Got It, Flaunt It". Thank goodness for fringe.

Your basic infinity dress with extra circle added in the skirt and a slit up to my waist with matching dance-panties:

This costume was completely hand made (not by me thank goodness). It includes a bodysuit, wings, a cape/tail, hip belt and eagle hat. There was a lot of specially engineered elements in this one. 

This one was worn for no more than 1or 2 minutes on stage. It is also completely hand made and was repurposed from Cinderella's ball gown from a couple of years ago. I wore that dress in a preview but was not cast as Cinderella, so there's actually two of the bodices in existence, one that fits me without the super bra, and one that fit the girl who played Cinderella and incidentally me with the super bra. The skirt/belt were remade from the ball gown to fit the established "Ulla" silhouette of narrow skirt with front drape.

The rio costume I made is shown here. 

My final and favourite costume: 

Why favourite? Sequins of course. Seriously, who couldn't love black sequined booty shorts topped with a semi-transparent striped sequined top? No sarcasm here. If I could have sequins on all of my clothes, I would be a happy lady. 

I encourage any of you to sew for your local community theatre group. They need you, and it doesn't have to be a huge commitment. Sometimes, all you have to do is sew some easy aprons or a bunch of buttons. The more volunteers they have, the easier it is for everyone, and you usually get a free ticket to the show where you can sit back and say, " I made that!"

Stash Bustin' Gift Bags

In my experience with community theatre, it is tradition for cast members give each other little gifts as mementoes either on opening night or closing night (or sometimes any night of the run). Usually, it's little cards or candies or small trinkets. This year, there were four cast members in particular that I wanted to thank for lending me different items that helped me out a great deal. I figured that even if they didn't like them, they're only grocery bags–they can stash them in their car just in case their needed.

Since I had taken the week of the run off work to preserve my sanity and sleep habits, I had some time to whip up some personal thank-you's in the form of reusable grocery bags (they came in handy after the last show when everyone has a bunch of accumulated crap in the dressing room to bring home with them. 

I copied the pattern off a bag that I got as a promo item. It features a clever little design feature in the form of a corner drawstring pocket that the entire bag can be stuffed into and then cinched up (kind-of looks like a little strawberry to me). 

All fabric I had in my stash, I just had to purchase a couple of packages of seam binding for two of the bags as well as elastic and toggles for the drawstrings. 

The orange and purple snakeskin print was my first try and test bag–which I kept–mostly because of the slightly shoddy binding application, and the fact that it's my favourite fabric in my stash. I made a dress out of it a couple of years ago that wasn't completely successful so I'm happy to have it appear in my every day life now. 

I learned from my mock up that the main bag material must be light-weight. the corner piece can be a heavier fabric, and there's more than one way to apply the binding. In the end, by being careful, I could sew it on in one pass as opposed to sewing it on once, folding it and then stitching in the ditch. It saved a LOT of time.

To be honest, these bags didn't really put a huge dent in my stash, but it was fun to pair up fabrics and colours. 

It's a pretty straightforward pattern that I'm sure most could figure out, but if anyone is interested, I could try to figure out how to post it. Or at the very least write up a tutorial.