I went back to the basement, and in the sixth crate, THE PATTERN appeared. It is loose, tailored, sophisticated and only a little smaller than I am, according to the measurements on the envelope.
I first saw this pattern in the Seventies, loved it, couldn't buy it then or find it later. When I DID find it, it vanished into my crates of patterns. It likes to hide from me.
It is tailored enough to look good with a jacket if I need to wear one, and loose enough to move in a breeze. It almost demands a rayon solid instead of the recycled linen tablecloth I had planned to use. Its only flaw is that it lacks pockets, but I'll open a seam and slip in a couple.
This is a dress I want to wear, even if I have to wear nylon stockings, which are no longer nylon but polyester. It would even make a bolero look good. Clever topstitching accentuates neck and sleeves, but I don't know that I will do it. I'm certain I will not make skinny tube ties for the sides.
There was plenty of ease when I pinned the tissues together, but as I made it larger, it will need to be cut down.
The trial looks good, so I'll add facings and a zipper and wear it around the house for a bit to find out what else I should do to it.
Another test was a qualified failure. I love the look of tiered skirts, but when I use the standard instructions, the tiers hit me in just the wrong places. Instead of using three 10 inch tiers, I opted for four 7-inch tiers with a separate elastic waistband. A separate band is the way to go. This is the first time I have not cursed the waistband.
HOWEVER. For tiered skirts you add 3-4 inches to your hip measurement, then each tier is 1.5 times the preceding one. This is too fluffy for me. I suspect that even 1.3 is fluffier than I'd like. I did get to use up bits from the stash, but this will be reduced to strips again soon.
