Don’t be fooled by the pictures…… or the line drawings.
This dress nearly drove me up the wall!
Reason number one was the fabric – my first time sewing with sheer fabric that frays if you even glance at it.
Reason number two was the fit.
I was looking for a simple one-shouldered dress for a black tie event I was attending for work. Simplicity 2692 looked like it would fit the bill and be pretty easy to alter for my full bust. I mean gathers – they’re designed to adjust right?
Wrong. I’m not even going to go into how many tries I made with this one. A lot of it was my own doing as I haven’t done a lot of FBAs but there were also funny things going on with the midrif panel and the back.
I ended up extending the bodice front by 3 inches, raising the arm holes by an inch so that my strapless bra wouldn’t show. I narrowed the back piece as it was gaping and changed the angle of the midriff pieces.
Pattern pieces before.
Pattern pieces after.
On the positive side – I didn’t change anything on the skirt.
The whole thing was lined with navy acetate and I used a scrap of poly satin for the midriff. In the end it came together okay – except for one little thing. I forgot to add the ease back in when I adjusted the midriff so I couldn’t exactly breath in this one. Believe me when I tell you it took three people to get that damn zip up!
If I decide to make any of the other views on this pattern, I may just take The Mahogany Stylist’s lead and make it from a knit.
TOTAL COST:
Pattern: $7.5
Fabric: $38.85 (3m @ $12.95/m)
Lining: $12.0 (3m @ $4/m
Zip: $8.95
Thread: $4.5
TOTAL: NZ$71.80 /US$49.40
This Light Gets In 
What an amazing job you´ve done, and the work was totally worth it! Looove the Mermaid dress! Fitting can be a pain sometimes, but when the result comes out as good as this it´s worth it anyhow, isn´t it?
It’s beautiful and you look beautiful in it!! It was well worth all the work you put in it!
This dress is gorgeous! And the fit is is wow!! I love the idea of tailored dresses that fit you perfectly and I am so inspired by your sewing!!!
This is soo stunning!! You did a fabulous job! I’m going to have to take a second look at this pattern.
I love it! I’d seen that pattern a million times and never thought much of it, but in that fabric and style it looks great! (I also love the way your tattoo shows on your exposed shoulder, lol.)