Revisiting the puce floral

Built by Wendy dress revisited

Almost exactly a year ago I made a raglan sleeve dress from the book Built by Wendy. The original post with the finished dress is here. (Here’s where I started the project, and here’s progress part-way through after excessive dithering and indecision.)

I wore it last summer and liked it, but every time I put it on and looked in the mirror, the collar niggled me. It felt too big, like I was wearing a giant flower around my neck. I hadn’t noticed this when I finished sewing the dress, only when I started wearing it.

Btw, the original Built by Wendy dress didn’t have this collar; I drafted it.

Built by Wendy FINALLY Sewn by Lizzy wearing the dress shorter hem
Me, a year ago, in the dress with the big collar. (Looks like we hadn’t cut the hay yet.)

I took the opportunity to unpick the collar during a long car trip, leaving the bit next to the tab front intact. There were 5 rows of stitching to unpick, but I liked the dress enough to persevere.

Built by Wendy dress with unpicked collar

With the neckline apart, I trimmed the collar (took about 1cm off the edge) and re-sewed it, gave everything a press, and order was restored.

Built by Wendy dress with fixed collar
Done!
Built by Wendy dress revisited
Happy!

Ever gone the extra mile to get things just right, and been so glad you did?

Cheers!

2 Comments

  1. Judith on February 6, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    Absolutely worth it. It’s a lovely dress. I think I should take that final step on garments but I often am more enthusiastic about the next project and end up just leaving it.

    • lizhaywood on February 6, 2022 at 8:46 pm

      Thank you Judith, it was absolutely worth it.

Leave a Comment