Sew for Victory (part 1- Not quite a fail...)

Here is what I would like to say about my first Sew for Victory experience, I went initially against my better judgement and it was not the most successful make ever.  I really wanted to to play with gathers and make a very femme silhouette.  This how ever backfired for me a little bit.  In my heart of hearts I knew I was not a gathers girl, but I tried to lie to myself about the shape of my body, this was not my best plan.  I'm more a pleats than gathers girl and I shall never again forget it.

This project all started with the drape.  I had a lot of fun making it regardless of the fact that the end result was not 100% my style.   There are a lot of process shots for this project so please enjoy.

After the parts were draped I made sure to mark them really well so I wouldn't miss anything when I got to the patterning portion.  Here comes the Pattern Drafting!

What I've learned with my experience in draping and patterning is that it is hard to do one without the other.  My large strength is pattern drafting and it is hard to get a really fit on a drape if you don't know how to correct the pattern pieces when you draft.

Next it was time to get down to cutting and sewing.

My favorite part of this dress is the plackit and small Peter Pan collar.  While I may not repeat this dress again verbatim, the collar action with definitely be happening again.

Now for the end product.

As a sewcialist I like to think of all my projects as an opportunity for learning and growth.  I definitely learned and grew with this project.  Things I learned:

1. I am starting to really enjoy draping and I will need to do more of it.
2. Gathers at least along the bustline are a little doubty on me and should not be repeated. 
3. Working in fabric other than 100% cotton is a fun challenge but if I decide to do it again I will drape in something with a similar weight.

I did do a second project which I will write up later that is more my style.  I can't wait for the round up and to see what everyone else has done.  Once again a big thanks to Rochelle from Lucky Lucille for this awesome sew-a-long.  Definitely one of my favorites.