This is the finished result of my dress-making exercise. As you can see, the final dress is in a different fabric from my original. I decided the sheet I was using was far too thin, so turned it into the lining and used some bold flower fabric bought from Walthamstow market.
I'm very pleased with the result. It's the first time I've used boning and once I'd got over my fear, it was easy to use. I also used my machine's blind hem stitch for the first time. It's OK, though a bit of a fiddle. I'd use it again if I didn't have enough time for a hand-stitched hem or had yards and yards of hemming to do all at once.Looking at this picture, I can see that the lining is showing a bit. I made it about 5mm shorter than the outer layer, but I think it needed more. Or some more careful adjustment of lengths. I was running out of time when I got to the hems and just wanted them finished. If I had had more time or patience, I would have tacked the hems, tried the dress on and got someone to help me with getting the length right, rather than judging it on my own with the dress on a hanger.
Overall, this project did what I wanted it to do - gave me some sewing practice, got me familiar with this pattern and how to make it fit and provided a finished dress I could wear to some friends' wedding. I now feel more confident that I can make the bridesmaids' dresses I offered to make and that they'll look good.
