The Sad New Year Dress

I made this great News Years Eve dress from clearance fabric I rescued from Joann's. It's peacock blue and black stretch taffeta. I have never sewn with it before and it was surprisingly easy. The only unfortunate thing was that it never got worn. Finding a babysitter on a party holiday is a drag. It's a great fit too. Silly Butterick wanted like 5 inches of ease; um no. It's a fitted dress not a potato sack so I cut it 2 sizes smaller. Because the taffeta was so light and wiggly I made the fuller A-line skirt slimmer. Initially the side skirt seams were folding inward towards my legs but once I cut it down the side seams stayed put.

I also made the slim skirt version without the band. I used the same sizing for the slim skirt as I did for the A-line and somehow the bodice and body are about 2 decent inches too small. It's a good thing I made it from a thrifted poly stretch knit. It still fits but if a gain a few pounds I'll look bunchy. I will most likely make another slim skirt version (a bit bigger too). This pattern only had 4 main pieces so it too was a breeze to sew.