Hold me, I’m sewing Style Arc Patterns for the first time.  I’m making the Alisha dress, and I love the fabric I’m using for the garment (black scalloped edge lace over a wine charmeuse slip dress), but I’m nervous about making it.

Why the anxiety, you ask?  Style Arc Patterns are sold single size only, and I’m not a single-size kinda gal.  Sure, I could have bought two copies in different sizes and graded the two to get a perfect fit, but at $20 bucks a pop I wasn’t about to shell out $40 for a single dress pattern.  So, I went off of my hip measurement since it’s the largest body measurement and bought the size 8, thinking I can grade down the bust and waist to what I need it to be.  Still…I’m nervous about doing this.

I made a toile/muslin/mock-up garment last night using the same type of slip fabric I’ll be using that was leftover from another project.  Had I cut the fabric with the stretch going horizontally instead of vertically (d’oh!  Only way I could squeeze the pattern out of the fabric), I think this would have fit just fine right out of the envelope.

Ummm….I had to take out part of the side seam to get this to fit over my head and shoulders, hahaha!!  Once I had it on, the bust fit just fine and there was enough ease in the waist and hips.  If I need to take in the waist and hip in the final version I’ll be ok, the bust was the most important part I was worried about fitting.  Anne at Clothing Engineer is right about the bust cups – they run very small and skimpy.  I used the B cup pattern (yes, there’s cup size options, a huge plus for fitting) and it didn’t cover my bra when I first tried it on.  Since I’m planning on wearing this sans bra and will be adding swim cups for coverage/support in the final version, this didn’t bother me.  So if you’re planning on making the slip, try out the different cup pieces to get the desired coverage you need.

Had to share this photo – look how much I had to rip out to get the slip on my dressform!!  This little lady is built tinier than I am, so I found it humorous that I could squeeze myself into the slip but had to rip out so much more to get it on the form for pictures.

Also, rouleau straps – any tips on making these buggers?  I used adjustable spaghetti straps in my stash for the test fit garment because I didn’t want to be bothered with making real straps.  If I could find coordinating spaghetti straps for my final slip I’d use those, but the chances of that happening are slim.

Next up is test-fitting the outer dress.  I cut that out last night from a poly crepe de chine in my stash that I thought would make a cool fall dress.  Hopefully I can kick this cold this week so I can get that squared away and move on to sewing the final dress by the weekend.  I need this dress to be done in less than two weeks!