So it's Prom time!  We are super excited about the dress we're doing this year.  The bar was set really high last year with that red number, but we're up to the challenge.  

This year we chose to use Simplicity 3673 for the base of the dress.  We'll be making some pretty big changes that will really make the final dress stand out in the Prom crowd.  But to start with, I decided to make the dress straight from the pattern just to get a feel for the construction, shape, and fit.  We chose a polyester plaid with a bit of stretch and a nice heavy drape.  This is View B with the belt loops and the shorter length.



She had that awesome belt already.  I love it with this dress.  For the fit changes, next time I'll make it a size smaller.  Simplicity has this annoying habit of adding 2-3 inches more ease in the size recommendation than the finished garment should actually have.   This is a close fitting dress and Simplicity sizing would make it have 3 1/2" of ease on the hip and 2 1/2" in the bust.  Insane and completely wrong! (and also very, very common with the Big Three.  Check the finished garment measurements on the pattern before you choose your size.) I had to guess the proper ease (close fitting but with enough room to sit) and ended up guessing a size too big.  We took it in quite a bit in the side seams.  We'll also be shortening the bodice by half an inch in the final dress.  My girl is a shorty with a high chest.  We often have to make that change.    We'll also be dropping the front center seam, because it's so unnecessary and distracting.  I wish I had done it on this one.

I'm also super proud of the zipper on this.  It actually looks decent.   It's an invisible zipper and I was able to sew close enough to the teeth for it to be truly invisible.  There are a few things that could have been better, but zippers are hard, so I take my victories where I can get them.

Then there are the design changes.  You don't get to see those until we get to the final number.  That should be in the next few weeks or so.

Making the first muslin out of real fabric in a real wearable dress was a great way to get a feel for the dress as a wearable garment.   As you can see, my girl is really happy with this jumper.  She loves it and it looks great on her.