NYC in the snow and rain dress: 04/2010 #108

I still haven’t cut into my yellow roses fabric….

I am often but not always this indecisive – I do sometimes sew up other fabrics from my stash that are irreplaceable or have a back story.

This fabric is the partner to the Paris street scenes fabric. Both were bought on a bit of a whim from Ribes & Casals in Barcelona whilst on holiday. How odd to think we used to get on planes and fly to places like Spain from Australia without any thought of infectious diseases. Seems so long ago.

I fell in love with the Paris street scenes fabric displayed at the end of one of the fabric tables and then saw the NYC version.

I could not choose. So a panel of both come back home with me.

And this spring I decided I’d use the NYC fabric for a Burda pattern that had been on my to do list for ten years: 04/2010 #108

I traced off a size 44, but really should have paid more attention to what my body measurements have changed to since covid baking. A size 46 would’ve been a much better choice.

It might look okay in these images from the front and back, but, really, its a bit snug all over, as you can see below when I’m not standing directly face on to the camera. Luckily the fabric has a teensy bit of mechanical stretch.

All that pleating across the stomach draws attention to my ‘full stomach’ (pot belly) when the rest of the dress is so snug. I should’ve gone a size up!

Shoulders back and pulling that tummy in doesn’t help much with the silhouette…

I do love the print though.

Who wouldn’t love the chance to put traffic lights and a one way sign on their bum?!

Going a size up isn’t the only change I need to make in the next version, I also need to raise the bust darts and neckline. This first dress already has a slapdash version of this adjustment.

Before I put the sleeves in, I tried the dress on to check fit. The bust darts were too low, and the neckline gaped and was a classic Burda plunging neckline. So I sewed the shoulder seams 2 cm lower, adjusted the facing and neckline and scooped out the armscye to make up for some of the reduction at the shoulder. Now it’s much better.

Despite its close fit and ability to spotlight the body part I most want to skim over, I really like this dress. The print is fun, I love the colours, the little puffed sleeves are cute and I like the neckline. And its perfect for Zoom meetings – it’s interesting enough without being too distracting, it looks good under a jacket and no one can see my full stomach.