So much for no new fabric

In my post An Exercise in Frustration  that I wrote last week I mentioned that I didn't want to buy any new fabric until I had used up some of what I already have.  Well that resolution didn't last long.  I really wanted to try out the dress pattern that I had created but I couldn't find anything in my stash to make it out of.  So I promised myself that I would only buy material for one dress.......

Well I found the most beautiful fabric.

A purple satin velvet overlayed with an iridescent floral/ paisley pattern in metallic.  A quick google search tells me that this is a Manuel Canovas fabric and is supposedly a home decor fabric but since when has that stopped me.  I think it'll make either a beautiful dress, or possibly a coat so it'll get more wear.

I also found a stretchy cotton fabric with a green geometric circle pattern that I loved which will make a lovely day dress.

And just as I was heading to the cash register I found the most fantastic fabric for a jacket.  Its a vinyl material in the most beautiful iridescent teal green colour.

Ok it's probably not everyone's choice of jacket material, but long long ago I had a vinyl jacket that was just so warm and snuggly.

Vinyl Jacket doing service in Cape Bona Vista - Newfoundland

That jacket has since been retired as it was falling apart, but the moment I saw this fabric I just knew it needed to be made into a similar jacket.  Although the more I think about it the more I think of lengthening it into an A-line 3/4 length coat.  Something like this but with a zipper rather than buttons.

Like this but with a bit more flare at the bottom.

So now I just need to find a snuggly material to line it with.  I've spent some time over the last week playing around with the coat pattern that I used last year, modifying it to fit a bit better - I'll try and use that pattern again but with a few modifications.

But back to the dress that took me to the fabric store in the first place.  I decided to try out the pattern on the green geometric cotton first before cutting into the beautiful purple velvet.

I cut the fabric out exactly to the pattern I made but then had to make a few modifications.  First of all the under bust darts needed to be extended further down past the waist line.  I had originally made the dart about 10cm long below the waist, but needed to extend it to 20 cm.  The same for the back darts.  I extended them from 10cm to 20 cm down from the waist.  I cut the sleeves off just above the elbow.  At this point the dress was very close to fitting well, it was just a little loose across the shoulders.  The shoulders seemed to be too far out.  It needed to be taken in along the center line by at least an inch.  After the amount of time I spent trying to get pattern placement right I was very loath to do this, but I decided in the end that it was necessary and the dress definitely fits a lot better now that I've done it.

Speaking of pattern placement I'm not sure what I was thinking when I cut out the back.

 I got the large circle lined up beautifully, but that leaves me with twin circles  right over my butt, not the best look.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the pattern and the dress.  As far as the pattern goes, the side bust dart needs to move down a little bit, its not in quite the right place, and next time I'll move the center fold line in so I don't need to take off that extra inch down the center but other than that I'm happy.