Tova dress (in a day)

I purchased a few yards of Chicopee corduroy in the fall with the express intention to make myself a Tova dress. After my failed attempt at a sleeveless Tova, this seemed a little foolish, but I just couldn't get the idea of a super soft corduroy frock out of my mind. I sat on the fabric for a couple of months and, finally, this past weekend decided to go for it.

After the sleeveless shirt didn't fit, I decided to take a closer look at the sizing. The first Tova I made was a size L and ended up being too small in the bust so I had gifted it to a friend and made myself a size XL. I wear that shirt all the time and because it was an XL, I made the sleeveless one an XL, too. The problems I had with the sleeveless one (gaping under the arms in particular) pointed to it being too big. A quick text to my friend later, I had the L in my possession to try on. Lo and behold, it fit me well! That made the dress decision easy - size L. (As an aside, I have lost a few pounds, but I think the real difference in fit is from new bras. As silly as that sounds, it made a huge difference.)

I cut the dress out on Friday evening. This is the process of garment sewing that I dislike the most, but it went fairly fast as I had all the pattern pieces other than the front and back already traced. I added 4 inches to the length as I am a tall girl and the dress as designed looked like more of a tunic on me. The sewing happened in two sessions on Saturday - about two hours in the morning and another hour and a half later in the day. I even managed to keep the nap running in the same direction throughout. Success! I should add that this pattern is extremely well written and easy to achieve if you take your time and go step by step. I have made it six times now and each time I learn a little something new.

I wore my new dress out on Saturday night. It was so satisfying to complete a project in a day! It's not always possible, of course, but starting 2013 with a garment sewing success is a good feeling. Now to finish the numerous other projects sitting around here half completed and start the ones that are just ideas floating through my brain. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.