The Wiggle Dress by Gretchen Hirsch, Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing

MY SECOND “ANIMAL OUTFIT”

One of the two books I got this past christmas was “Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing”. It is always fun to get sewingbooks because they inspire. Going through “Gertie’s” book the “wiggle dress” caught my eye. The under arm gussets intrigued me and I wanted to try making them. The dress itself I would change so it would satisfy my “wants”. Here you can see my “gusset”.

Earlier I wrote, that I wanted to combine two patterns for this dress. I used “the wiggle dress”, but changed the cut under the bust. The red dress I made my daughter this christmas, has that cut and I wanted to implement it in this new project (http://sewingforfun.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/simplicity-1909-view-c-party-dress/). I am not a pro at pattern changing but the only way to learn is to try. I drew up the pattern pieces and put them on my dressform. Then I drew the lines where I wanted to divide the pattern pieces.

Making changes like this can lead to a potential disaster, but it didnt. In fact I am happy with the result.

In addition I made two other changes. First of all, I shortened the dress, making it more of a tunic. The bottom of the dress is rounded, so it follows the same curves as the shape of the waistline. Because of this change I did not have a need for the split in the back.

My last deviation is the neckline in the back. According to the sewing pattern it has a deep V-shape. That is too cold for me, so I lifted it, giving my outfit a high neckline both in front and back.

Here you see my final result.