I made up a muslin a few months ago and fitted it when my parents were over in Boston. It required the predicted FBA, a swayback adjustment and a little bit of nipping in at the waist.
I underlined the whole thing by hand with silk organza, and made a cream crepe de chine lining. To give a bit more wiggle room in the lining, I sewed the bust darts but not the fisheye waist darts, and that seemed to work well. Â I originally planned to french seam the whole thing but the silk had quite a heavy hand, so I serged the edges and pressed them open instead, and just french seamed the lining.
The final fit is pretty good, but there is a bit of rippling in the back and gaping at the top back when she moves her arms forward.. something to adjust on the pattern before I make it again.
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| Making the gravy for Christmas lunch |
I’m really pleased I now have a TNT for Mum – with a little bit of adjusting, it’ll be easy to whip up some in other fabrics in the future (I think a tweed one would be particularly nice). There are also other neckline and sleeve length options that it’d be fun to play with. And the additional bonus? I forgot that when I ordered the fabric I liked it so much, I got an extra 3 yards for me! Woop! So now I just have to decide what to make with it – I’m thinking maybe a swooshy tea length skirt, if I can squeeze it out of 55 inch wide fabric.
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| Play it again, Mum |
What a great gift and a terrific looking dress. Also, I need your parent’s Christmas tree in my life.
Would you believe it if I told you this one of my Mum’s three trees?! 🙂
Wow! Your mum’s signature look works really well for her, she looks fab and soooooo classy! That dress is beautifully made Jenny, what a perfect present. x
Thanks, I’ll pass it on! What the wrap dress is to me, the sheath dress is to my Mum 🙂
gorgeous dress! you and your mum are so alike!
Ha ha ha, thanks! Now I’m growing my hair out, even more so than usual..
Such a great fabric! and a tweed dress – FTW! 😀
It’s got to happen! Xmas 2015 planning, already…
Your mum looks stunning in her dress, very classy!
Thanks Birgit!
Lovely! The fit looks great and I love the fabric. I made a TNT for my mum too (a rub-off of one of her own dresses), be warned you’ll now get packages of fabric in the post with a note ‘if you could just make this up for me…’. Luckily I’m happy to oblige!
Yeah I was pleased with the fit, because that’s what I was really trying to nail down. That’s so funny about your Mum – luckily mine doesn’t have much access to fabric shopping in Aberdeen so she’s a little constrained…. for now 😉
Oh wow, that is so posh and fits BEAUTIFULLY! How clever you are. Your mum looks the bee’s knees 🙂
HAPPY NEW YEAR! xxx
We’re all about the poshness chez Cashmerette!
And Happy new year to you too!
Jenny, this is absolutely wonderful! The fabric is perfect and your mum looks so pleased! 🙂 You rock!
Thanks Andie! She wore it for Xmas day and for New Years Eve.
Such a wonderful gift and your mom looks fabulous in it!!
Thank you Tanya… luckily I had a good model 😉
Oh, that’s beautiful, what a lovely gift.
Thank you Sam – I think it’s all thanks to that gorgeous fabric
Oh Jenny! Such a fabulous gift! Your mum looks so elegant in her dress.Your fabric choice was perfect. Your mum’s tree is so perfectly elegant too, I love it.
Thanks Andrea! I was actually in touch with Linda at EmmaOneSock for a while trying to find the right fabric and print, and when this one came in, Linda emailed me. How’s that for customer service?
Great dress Jenny! Your Mom looks fantastic in it, like a real regal lady!
Ha ha, we go for regal around my house 🙂
Your Mom looks so happy in her pretty new dress, sewn by a thoughtful DD. Great job!
She is happy with it which is great!
Love, love, love this dress on your very attractive mom. It’s perfection. And lucky you having some extra fabric for yourself, because now everyone will want some of it. If you don’t mind, please pin it to our fan gallery on Pinterest. Thanks!
Ha yeah I’m looking forward to using it! And: PINNED
Great fitting dress, I love that fabric. What a nice gift.
I’m learning it’s a lot easier to fit my Mum than me: who’d have thought?! 😉
Just beautiful! Your mom must be so pleased!
Thanks, Gail! She is.
Wow! This looks so great! The fit is perfect, the fabric is amazing, and your mom is a total babe!
I’ll pass it on!
What a classy dress for a classy mum!
We’re all class all the time here!
Your mom is adorable!
This is so fab- great job Jenny!
Happy New Year!
Bernadette
Thanks, and Happy New Year!
🙂
Very nice and beautiful, all around.
Merci buckets Annessa
What a gorgeous dress and a fantastic gift! I’m sure that you both hear this all the time, but you really do look like a younger version of her–there clearly are some great genes on that side of the family. 🙂
It’s funny because we don’t think that, but I think my hair growing out is making us seem more similar! I do have her legs though, that’s a genetic blessing 🙂
Your mum looks so stylish! I’m sure she was delighted with her dress; I especially like the picture of her at the piano; it’s such a different perspective from most photos.
My Mum loves playing her piano so I thought it would be a good “real-life” shot!
this dress is gorgeous and so is your mom!! i see where the pretty gene came from 🙂
Aw, thanks 🙂
Just lovely. Such a sweet thing to do, and your mum looks incredibly chic.
I’m glad I could come up with an appropriately chic dress!
Love the dress and the fabric. Your mum looks awesome in the dress!
Thanks Elle!
Gorgeous dress! Clearly a very classy lady!
Class personified, is my Mum 🙂
Stunning! I adore that fabric and would race off to buy some if I wasn’t expecting a massive box of fabric in the mail tomorrow. It is stunning on your mum and I can’t wait to see what you make it up into for you. How swooshy of a tea length? Can I say that’s my favorite skirt length? 🙂
Ha, it’s sadly all sold out now, but it is gorgeous! It has a really firm hand but feels really luxurious. I’m actually tempted to go super swooshy almost circle skirt like if I can eke it out of the remaining yardage…
See! I knew ordering the box of fabric was the right choice! I can’t be tempted by out of stock, which makes it even better. And I’m also fascinated by the prospect of a half to 3/4 circle skirt in tea length on your blog in the near future. Do you self draft your circle skirts or use a pattern?
Ah, what a fab combo of model, fabric and sewist! That’s just all around the best gift!
Thanks SJ!
Lucky mum! Fit and fabric look gorgeous.
Well I’m also a lucky daughter… it was made on the sewing machine she bought me 😀
You are so nice to sew your mum a dress! It looks beautiful on her. She is a very stylish looking lady!
Thanks Kat!
What a beautiful and thoughtful gift! I’ll be looking forward to seeing more dresses for your Mum in the future. 🙂
hahaha as will she!
Wow! You’re a great daughter. You mom looks gorgeous in the dress. That fabric… THAT FABRIC!! It’s really cool that your mom has a signature style! It definitely suits her.
Isn’t the fabric awesome? Linda from EmmaOneSock kept it back for me because she knew I was looking for something like that! I love what you can find on EOS.
What a gorgeous, loving gift for your Mum. It’s a beautiful dress, and she looks so chic!
Love this dress! It’s beautiful on her.. It looks so cozy. 🙂
Great job, your mum looks amazing in it.
What a fabulous dress. I made this dress as my TNT but it didn’t look near as nice as the one you made your mum. I must try that neckline. Great fabric too.
Wow…knock out dress. Looks like the perfect pattern/fabric sitch totally came together here w your swanky mom working it! Easy to see where you get your brilliant sense of style and poise. Gorgeous.
Very pretty dress. It caught my eye that you used 4-ply silk, because I am about to sew a dress using 4-ply silk and I was hoping to avoid underlining it – but – based on your pics, I think underlining was a good idea. I think I better follow your example 🙂 Better safe than sorry!
Just bought this pattern! Your dress is an inspiration to me. I haven’t sewn for myself in ages and would love your opinion on a suitable fabric for it to be made into a little black dress. Im five 2, size 12 _14 with a large bust. Huge thanks!
Hi Deirdre! I would recommend using something that has a bit of weight to it and isn’t too thin. I used 4ply silk but other options would be wool or silk faille. Oh and TNT means “Tried and True” which is patterns that we as sewists go back to again and again because they work well for us!
Ps what does TNT mean?