Lea Dress

I have been sitting on these photos and waiting for writing inspiration forever. After I finished writing my last blog post, I promised myself that come hell and high tide, this would be the next post on the blog. However it was easier said than done.

Like the post has been waiting forever, so has the fabric I used to make up this dress. I bought it a while back and couldn't decide what to make with it. I knew I wanted to make it into a simple shift dress like garment. And then one day Jolie Marie Louise Patterns released the Léa Dress Pattern (currently their site is not in working order) and I was in love. I was actually so dedicated to the project that I made a real muslin before cutting into the fashion fabric. I cut out size ? and basted it together with the longest stitch on the machine. To my surprise I didn't need to make too many changes aside from changing the shoulder seam angle and pinching some excess fabric on the back. After I made the changes on the pattern pieces, I cut out the dress from the fashion fabric. I decided to cut the pocket and front facing from the same fabric I used for these shorts. Then came the fun part. Sewing. I went nuts and top stitched all the seams open and hand stitched the front facing down. Then begun the hunt for perfect buttons, which lasted for a good month or two.

When the dress was finally finished, I was underwhelmed. I loved the pattern, I loved the fabric, I even loved the way it looked. However I didn't love how I felt wearing it. Something feels not quite right. Maybe it's the front facing that makes the front feel too stiff or maybe straight dresses simply aren't my thing. I could tweak the fit in the front and see if that makes me feel better when wearing it, but so far I usually wear it only when I feel like wearing a dress but all the other dresses are in the wash(bad adulting, I know)

Has this happened to you before? Have you slaved away on a project, have it turn out exactly like you envisioned and then still have it be a fail because of something trivial or unexplainable?