Ruffled Maxi-dress - Simplicity 1873

Hello all!

Gosh, it's been a long time since I've posted.  I've made a whole new wardrobe since then!  Moved, transferred to a new university, got married a cat, and generally begun a new phase in my life.

First of all, the most important bit:

Little Mills (full name Millicent Sabrina Frampton) is just pushing four months.  She's an evil little shit but sometimes she dials it back and does some adorable ninja nonsense like you see above.  Evil, though.  The worst bitey monster I've ever willingly shared my bed with.

Here, have a few more:

 She used to be so tiny.

Getting a bit bigger

Millie came to live with me when she was just about 3 weeks old, because she and her siblings were abandoned in a friend's yard, no mama in sight.  I picked her up and she bit me, which for some reason I took as a good sign.  Since then she's become a traveling cat.

 Stuffed in a bag on the train.  She doesn't particularly like this.

She loves to ride in the car, though!  She climbs all over that handsome man.

So, that's Millie. Onward to the dress!

I used Simplicity 1873, a Cynthia Rowley pattern for dress and jacket.  I only used the bodice pieces, though, and rectangles for the skirt.  The skirt has four deep inverted pleats, two in front and two in the back.  It's simple, pretty, and breezy.

See? Breezy!

I made a 2-inch FBA in the bodice, but could have used a little more coverage in the armscyes.  They show a little bra, but it's not something I mind too much.  

The fabric is a very lightweight polyester double georgette with a geometric design reminiscent of bows.  I'm not rabidly anti-synthetics, and this is a nice one.  It's got a dry, not too slick feel that I appreciate.

 This is a slightly older picture, hence the different haircut.  In this photo, you can see the ruffle a bit better.  It was a very simple job!  I just traced around an LP, then traced around a bowl inside that circle to get a ring.  I then sandwiched the ruffle between fashion fabric and lining and here we are.  An effective way to trim a dress, embarrassingly easily!  The ruffle is baby-hemmed which was definitely the most difficult part of the process.
Does anyone else have the worst luck trying to press down baby hems?  I should get one of those silicone gloves you're supposed to use with curling irons...

Here's a shot of the inside:

The dress is lined in a sheer silk crepe de chine.  I just zig-zagged around the waist seam.  The skirt seams are done all French-like.

I love this dress.  It's something easy to wear, comfortable, and I don't have to worry about flashing someone if I have to struggle out of a seated position on the ground!  All around, it's a winner!

Simplicity 1419 - The Russian Wodka Dress

I used to really like the Lisette line of patterns for Simplicity.  The first collection was like an adorable exercise in coordination--the colors, the fabric swatches on the envelopes, the little names they all were given.  But then I actually made some (the Passport dress and the Portfolio tunic, if you must know).  The early ones almost uniformly lacked bust shaping and ended up being kind of unflattering for someone like me.  Simplicity 1419 changed all of that!

For this dress, I added an FBA and some extra waist darts (bringing me to 4 in the front) for the proper fit, then changed the skirt to the formula I like best.  It has two inverted pleats at the front, which usually are placed directly underneath the waist dart, and either small pleats or gathers at the back.  On this particular dress I used pleats.  Made this way, the skirt has a nice flat front which I prefer to one with fullness all the way around.

Checking on cookies.  You mean to say that you don't do Industrial Christmas Baking dressed like this??

 The fabric is Russian vodka, circus, ballet, and flag print which is definitely a little unusual for me!  I tend to stick to solids or small florals, and leave the crazy prints to my sister, but I had my eye on this fabric for years and finally decided to pull the trigger a couple of months ago.  I'm so glad I did because it's got a hand like buttah and a drape like silk--all while being easy-care rayon.

It looks like there's a line of stitching above the waistline seam, but I think that's a crease in the fabric from where I had the apron tied a bit snugly earlier.  

I cut a size 14, but did a 3-inch FBA and took out additional width in the waist with an extra dart.  I think the back ended up being a size 12.  This pattern definitely runs a little bit big!

I swear, this kitchen has the worst lighting ever.  But the best ovens!

From the side you can see the sleeve I modified.  The pattern's original cap sleeves were not my cup of tea.  At all.  Originally, I thought that a puffed half-sleeve with darts at the bottom, like a mini leg o' mutton would be nice instead, and give me a bit of coverage in the winter.  Nope.  Frumpsville.  In a fit of frustration, I cut two inches off the bottom, hemmed it, and then gathered the bottom 3-ish inches at the outside and sewed a little self-bow on top.  It's twee, but it suits the silly print!

I welcome any suggestions, critiques, advice-s, etc!  Thanks!