Hellooooo Mrs. Robinson!

I've been fiddling around with this dress for awhile. I had really high hopes for it, because I want to wear it to a wedding next month. Of course when you have high hopes, there's a lot of room for disappointment. The black satin is thick, luscious and was 75% off on last winter's clearance at Joanne's. So I'm not out too much money.

I don't know how this happened, but after measuring several times, cutting carefully, and checking the fit by trying it on, the bodice on this dress was WAY too big, I had already sewn in the side zipper when I discovered this (and it was the best invisible zipper I've ever done), and really didn't want to take it all apart. The straps were too far apart anyway.

My best solution was to put two long darts in the back, that extend up into the back straps. The dart is okay, but there's still significant gaping in the back neckline.

I'll wear a cardigan with it anyway, but WHY oh WHY didn't I make a muslin mock-up on this fancy dress?

I can't fault the pattern or the directions. They were wonderful!

They came from Diana Rupp's book, Sew Everything Workshop. I've mentioned this before, but this is such a great book. This pattern has just four pieces (plus two lining pieces). I did cut some of the fullness out of the skirt, because the weight of the fabric caused it stuck out like a perfect equilateral triangle.