A Woman's Prerogative...

...is to change her mind. As it is everyone's prerogative, right?

And in that vein, the black sheath dress I had planned became something completely different:
It's another version of the Metropolitan Good Times Dress from Hot Patterns. This time, I used grey wool jersey (italian, purchased from Christine Jonson) and made the skirt longer. Since my skin and wool do not get along (wool makes me itch terribly), I lined the yoke, where it hangs from the shoulder, with silk knit. I used cotton batiste, cut on the bias, for yoke interfacing. This was perfect for the fabric, as the bias cut of the interfacing stretches slightly, as does the wool jersey. At the same time, the woven interfacing adds just enough stability to keep anything (neckline, for example) from stretching out during wear. The dress is pretty loose fitting, so the wool is not a problem rubbing against me, and I did not have to line it anywhere else. I did insert side "elephant ear" pockets and I wear the dress with a tricot slip underneath. (As a slip wearer, I sometimes feel I'm an endangered species!).

I am still in "love" with my super-duper industrial hemmer, which worked wonderfully to hem the sleeves and skirt, once I realized that to use it, I had to forgo my usual rayon "Hug Snug" hem binding. The woven rayon hem binding did not stretch, but my fabric did...causing my hem to be 'warped' while being sewn, if I used the seam binding. So I simply cut the binding off, then hemmed away. It worked wonderfully. Not very pretty, looking at it from the inside, but heck, the knit does not ravel anyway, and the hem is secure and invisible from the outside, which is I guess is what should matter most.

I wore this all day at work for almost 12 hours, counting the commute, and I still have it on now. That's a long way of saying it's one comfortable dress!