so i started this… and it needs some help

Last night I took a class on sewing with knits and we needed to have a pattern ready for the class, so I picked this McCall's…

I wanted to do the shorter dress. First time sewing with knits, less fabric wasted if it turns into a disaster… (Although I hate to throw a project out, so I probably wouldn't waste the fabric, I'd rework it into something somehow) Here's the knit fabric I bought…

It's a kind of a green/gray/taupe-y color with cream/white cherry blossoms that could also look like paint splatter maybe? I don't know. I mainly wanted to make sure it wasn't too thin or sheer that it would be see through. This is a good weight and has a nice stretch, but now I'm thinking it would've been better to pick something more fluid and drapey.

I added an inch to the neckline because when I held up the pattern I wasn't sure if it would be too low and I could always cut it down later if it's too high.

I'm cutting the fabric on the floor. That's just how i roll. No I'm not using a rotary cutter on my hardwood floors. Somewhere I have a self-healing cutting mat that i used for mounting projects in college. I was hoping I'd find it instead of having to go buy a new one. Those big ones are pretty pricey when I checked a store. I could probably use some pattern weights as well. Right now i'm using my husband's books. 

Here it is cut out. This is the back piece. Just 2 pieces and I intended to cut bias strips to bind the neck and arm holes instead of doing a double turn like the instructions said. Although with a knit, the strips don't have to be cut on the bias because of the stretch, right? I pinned the front to the back, wrong sides out and very carefully pulled it on to test out the fit. This was kind of stupid, but i'm a novice so forgive me. Safety pins would've been better or i should've just basted the thing. It was very pokey with all those needles. yep, stupid. it fit in the hips, but the top was too big. and then there was this awful pooling of fabric above my butt. So the top needs to be taken in a size or 2 and then graded out to the bottom. I took photos and then deleted them because i couldn't bring myself to post those. And then i checked the waist on the pattern and it's a good 2 inches above my natural waist, so I should've lengthened it. Long torso here. never did like 1 piece bathing suits for that reason.


it was late so i didn't get to fix it. and when i got to class the next day, i decided to start on something simple so that i could actually get to work during the class time. i used a solid blue knit and cut out a simple skirt from a pattern our teacher had. I'll get back to fixing the dress after i finish the skirt.