Tiramisu III

Tiramisu the Third.  The print is good - I had feared it would be overwhelmingly, screamingly bright in effect.  After the second Tira dress, where I made a size 40 all over, with an FBA and 3/4 length cut-on sleeves, this one has narrowed sleeves, a wider cross-over section, a smidge more length below the bust and a shortened midriff.  I think it is pretty good, though I do have the bug of still considering how it could be better.  It is flattering - there's quite a heft of tummy that isn't particularly obvious.  I will pin the crossover section so it stops a bit higher.  I'm now going to go back to my stripey tiramisu and narrow the sleeves, narrow the midriff and probably take the waist in through the sides a smidge.  I'm finding noticeable differences in how flattering it is depending on loose or more fitted fabric.  Because of the cut-on sleeves, I'm reluctant to cut too high under the arm, so a bit of extra looseness around the underarms is just how it has to be.


The under-bust fit is the one I'm interested in the most.  My first Tiramisu dress, the midriff was half-way up to my bust point until I resewed the underbust seam with the narrowest seam I could get away with.  The second one, the midriff was in a better place, but a bit loose and I thought I needed to get the seam lower again for #3.  I did lengthen the fabric on the bodice a little, and what I have learnt with #3 is that, on a big busted-narrow shouldered, short waisted, narrow rib caged, big tummied girl like me, when the seam comes down, the bust uses up more room and the bodice is pulled slightly open in the centre.  If the midriff seam is not to be pulled up, then the midriff itself needs to be very firm-fitting, and this in turn will require more room in the bust.  It's a dress, not a swimming outfit!  Turns out that the midriff band sitting partly against the rib cage and partly against the underside of the bust is the better place after all.  I don't have the resources to try and photgraph all of this right now, but I hope it makes a little sense to anyone with a particular interest in fitting large busts on small frames.

I think a Tiramisu 3/4 sleeve dress in navy jersey would be nice, though I'll need to get the fit right first time round with jersey.  When I used it last year to make the Simplicity 1945 crossover top, it was close to impossible to unpick any mistakes.

But anyways, it's time for a break from Tiramisu dresses.  Cake Patterns' second pattern release is on its way to me as I type.  It's a circle skirt and a wrap top (more wrapping?  Yes, more wrapping) called Pavlova.  Here is a beautiful rendition, made and modelled by StephC, Mrs Cake Patterns Herself.

I adore the emerald green fabric.  I've got some black merino for the wrap top.  For the bottom, because I loved it in the shop, despite the impracticality of a pale-base skirt, I have a very soft, flowing, cream fabric with layers of flowers on it.  Blogger (or my computer) is misbehaving, so I can't paste the photo.  Then I have black and white polka dot fabric as a possible for a second skirt.  I only get little bits of sewing each night, and then not every night of the week.  But it really helps me step away from the demands of my day job and of the juggling act of simultaneously working for money and raising children.  It seemed like forever, and was in fact three years, before I started to make things which I kept wearing out of the house, but now the effort seems worthwhile, especially with the Tira dress, my first pattern to run to three successful makes.