Miss Ruby Tuesday

Today I'll be talking the latest pattern I've tried - the Miss Ruby Tuesday by 1 Puddle Lane. This gorgeous dress has many different options, and I'll take you through my journey with it.

To start with I needed some fabric. I chose some Poly Spandex from Knitwit. I haven't sewn with this before, so I was in for a challenge! It's super slinky, and a 2 way stretch, with 100% stretch. According to the pattern I had to go down a size, and it was recommended to extend the length of the pattern. I chose the cap sleeve option with a v-neck front and round back. I added an extra 2 inches to my front and back pattern pieces. As the pattern is 56 pages long (that's a lot of taping pattern pieces together) I traced off my bodice pieces. I cut at the suggested spot to extend the pieces and reshaped them. I cut out the skirt in the same size and then cut out my fabric.

I decided on a v-neck for my first one. It suggested if you haven't made one before then you should do a trial first. I didn't. I missed the step that said to fold the binding in half so had to redo the binding. Luckily before I sewed it on. This fabric is not very forgiving, and is nearly impossible to unpick. The v still looks like a v, it's just not even on the left hand side. I also managed to catch the binding when sewing it onto to the dress. There was no way to unpick it so I just had to run with it. I obviously didn't have my quarter points quite even so the binding was stretched in some places more than others when sewing. This created an uneven binding, and my top stitching which I did from the edge therefore isn't even. But luckily on black you can't really tell!

I had more luck with the arm binding. It's a lot more even, and I decided to go against the pattern, and stitch in the ditch (in the sewn line) rather than 6mm from the edge. I like this look better and will use it when I make my next one.

The skirt came together quite easily, and sewed on with no problem. I think the 2 inches was a little too much in the body, as the waist sits lower than I'd like. Overall though i'm really happy with the dress, and am planning on wearing it out for my birthday on Friday (unless I make another one before then which I like more!). 

For my next one i'm going to try a boat neck and 3/4 sleeves. I don't think i'll bother with the V-neck again (although it does look cute). I'll also extend the binding to 5cm to give me a bit more room to play with, and decrease the pattern adjustment to 1 inch. I'd love to try this in a cotton lycra for a more everyday feel.

L.