Sometimes, sewing is a labour of love that’s more about the process than it is about the finished product. This is exactly what this dress is about.

I have worn this dress exactly one time and it was the first and last time that dress will come out of my closet. As a garment on the hanger, this dress gets a 11/10, but as a piece of clothing I actually want to wear, it gets maybe a 3. And that’s being generous.

I bought this fabric at Joann’s last summer and had been hanging on to it for quite a while. Yellow is by far my favourite colour, so I kept waiting for the right pattern to come along. I originally thought I would use it for Sewaholic’s Harwood, but upon deeper googling, I realized I would need fabric with more drape to make that dress work. I also wanted a late summer/early fall dress and knew I wanted something that was more open at the neck.

So I decided instead to hack an old simplicity shirt dress pattern I made once years ago, but hated because it had a really awkward collar.  I decided to hack that poor pattern to death by taking off the collar and the sleeves, adding pockets and rounding the hem.

I did make a muslin, but somehow, the fit is still wrong. I didn’t take off enough at the shoulder seams to make it work as a sleeveless. overall, the dress is still too big by about an inch and looks pretty frumpy, even with the drawstring waist pulled tight. The biggest issue, however, is the fabric has way too much body for this style. The hips and bust stick out stiffly and just look bad. I wore it out to dinner at a super trendy restaurant and felt like a frumpy mom amid super hip foodies. I had planned on wearing this dress to a friend’s wedding later in the month, but ended up going with something else.

I am happy, however, with the insides of this dress. I looooooove finishing anything and everything with contrasting bias tape and this gold does not disappoint. I had solid (store-bought) mustard yellow bias tape that I had originally planned on using, but I am so glad I used this homemade gold striped stuff. It is so much more fun.

In sum, I’m glad I made this dress (as there are always lessons to be learned), I’m just sad that I won’t get to wear this gorgeous mustard yellow fabric.