Monday, November 4, 2013

Kay Unger dress - completed!

For some reason I had a terrible time getting any decent full length pictures of me in my new dress, and the other photos were all hit and miss.  It could be due to:  a dark November evening; a short window in which to fiddle with my camera; inept fiddling with my camera; an unpredictable flash; or all of the above.

 It's late so I will save comments on the pattern and the many adjustments I had to make to it for a later post, if I have the energy.

On the plus side, I love the finished dress.  It's soft and the cotton underlining somehow makes it kind of cozy.  The colour looks pretty with this jacket.  It does fit me well, and so it's very comfortable to wear.  I would even consider making the pattern again.

And I love the shape of the midriff, now that it actually works with the pattern pieces above and below it.  Just look at this side view.  Not bad, especially when you consider that I sewed the side seams last.

This soft wool and cashmere suiting looks wrinkled in all the pictures.  You'll have to take my word for the fact that the dress looks better in real life.


20 comments:

  1. You did a great job on this dress! Perfect fit!

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  2. Beautiful dress - very flattering!

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  3. Absolutely first class. I can see the skill in the seam placements and stand back in admiration and awe! [from another Lawyer, that's not faint praise!] well done.

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  4. Wow, this looks wonderful. I really like the neckline detail here!

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  5. I agree with all the above - beautiful style and fit.

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  6. I love it! Really lovely. I have this pattern, but you're comments about adjustments reminds me why I haven't made it up.

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  7. A great looking dress! I'm looking forward to seeing your comments. It's on my list for an occasion for next spring.

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  8. That looks great! The style of that dress and the colour makes it so versatile!

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  9. Great fit at the front, however your garment would benefit from adjustments at the back. A sway back adjustment and some work on the side panels at the shoulders is needed. I'm making this comment anonymously because even constructive criticism attracts a torrent of abuse.

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  10. Your last comment caught my attention - is it not a good idea to sew side seams up last? Would you mind explaining for me?

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  11. Hello Ms Anonymous, could it be possible that the posture ( with arms put towards the back) would lead you to think falsely that the dress needs adjustments ? Kay your dress is amazing and the fit is so nice. I love it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  12. Oops! I think my last comment flew away. I love your dress and the fit is great. Lately I have been enamored with KU designs. I have several of her dress patterns and want to make one up soon! Yours is very inspirational!!

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  13. Kay - I love what you did with this dress....let's take this one step at a time. The fit through a waist panel like this is very VERY difficult (there are many curves in the waist there), so what most designers do is modify that fit so that is it not skin tight. (This is also the main difference between the Occidental and Oriental custom of fitting: the Oriental is much closer - it's just their custom, nothing wrong with it.) However for we westerners, we are not accustomed to that tight a fit, therefore the looser fit.

    Secondly (and this really should be first), sewing in those side seams and matching the waist panel is a real PAIN IN THE A**, err um NECK!!!! Because you don't have to match one place per seam, which is hard enough, but two, which means that the seams have to be exactly the right distance apart to match. These are the details that separate the Walmart version from the Neiman Marcus version (I know you know which one is yours!!! ;) ).

    And finally, having photographed black many times, the hard part is that with a flash or without, you must lighten the garment to show off the seams (and who wouldn't want to show off that matching job on the side seams)! But when you do that, mysterious wrinkles and such show up that never are seen in the garment. They truely are NEVER seen. As a result there looks to be mistakes showing that are not there. Additionally, I'm sure your posture was rather contorted (IOW, not a normal stance) when you were showing off the side seams.

    To be honest here, I'm not sure what sort of criticism I could make - maybe like you said, if anything it would be the difficulty in photographing the garment. I'm glad to see this made cause I love a lot of the KU stuff in the Vogue catalog. The patterns have many fitting elements to them that make them extra special, especially for hard-fitting figures.

    Here's the feedback I would REALLY like to know. I know you're an attorney, and how do you like that front opening?....is this good for a professional?....is there enough overlap that it's a modest, professional look without too much exposure of the girls? That's been my only reluctance of using the pattern....love your feedback on that when you do another post to further explain the dress (you mentioned you were tired and just a short post tonite [last night]).

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  14. An elegant design, so well executed!

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  15. Kay, this is a great dress. Where did you find the pattern?

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  16. Ooohhh..acabo de ver este vestido y me encantó!! Es una pena no haberlo visto mucho antes..es precioso!!,te quedó perfecto y te queda muy bien puesto..muy elegante..yo te felicito..admiro tu eexelente trabajo y lamento no haber visto antes este lindo diseño y trabajo.

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