Blue Paisley; All Laced Up

Whew, this dress.

It's made from Butterick B6322, one of the 4 50's inspired dresses I wanted to make for myself this summer. In my stash I had 4 yards of the perfect blue paisley quilting cotton (with a really fun name, The Udder Cowboy), a gift from my grandma. Also in my stash I had the perfect shade of blue pre-made piping to make the interesting details of the design really pop. The lace up midriff section, the gathered upper bodice; I really liked the design.

 So, I made it, complete with pockets of course, over a month ago. I liked how it turned out. I wore it. I managed to stain it, ugg. Well, I got the initial stain soaked out, but there was one little thing I forgot.

The grommets in the front of the dress were made out of metal. They rusted, leaving huge stains all over the front of the dress. I tried for weeks to get the stains out using vinegar and salt. Well, I got most of the stains out, but the ones around where the grommets had been? Those refused to come out. It was time to admit defeat and continue with plan B.

As you may or may not have noticed in the first picture, the dress was a little big around the midriff section. I'd toyed with ideas of how to fix this the first time I wore the dress, but finally the stains made up my mind for me. I just cut off the stained sections.

First I carefully removed the piping with my seam ripper, I still needed it. Then I cut off the stained part, folded the raw edges in towards each other, and inserted the piping in between the two layers. I sewed it all up then inserted new grommets (I don't think these will rust) and new lacing.

All done and wearable again! And the fit? Even better this time then it was at the beginning!

There is one thing that annoys me however, the way the front panels wrinkle thanks to the lacing. I think I'm going to add a piece of boning right next to the grommets on each side to fix that problem.

I love wearing this dress with my net crinoline, it makes me feel all put together and dressed up, without being over the top. The full gathered skirt really softens the look of the crinoline compared to the look of it with a circle skirt.

I have worn this dress 4 times in the 2 weeks since I fixed it, I'd say that renders it a success, despite my initial frustration with the stains.

So I guess that just goes to show, if one thing doesn't work out, try something else. Don't give up completely. I need to remind myself of that in other areas of my life occasionally. God has a plan, his plan A for me might just be my plan D. I just need to seek him, and not be too stubborn, holding on to the "stained" plan I think is the right one.

Sometimes my preferable way of fixing things, isn't going to work, but there's always another way. That's a little deeper than I usually go in sewing posts, but hey, that's what worked for this dress!