The Ruby Dress and Top

It's here.  I've finally reached the point in sewing my own wardrobe where I have decided I am willing to pay for a few patterns.  So far, it's all been freebies and making my own patterns based on things I already own.  I don't know why, but moving overseas was the change I needed to finally decide that it was worth it to pay money for a few versatile patterns that I could print out at home and make over and over again.

The first one I bought was the Ruby Dress and Top by Made by Rae.  I have been ogling versions of this pattern online for a while, and thought I could make dress and top versions (duh), plus I liked some of the versions I'd seen with sleeves added on to make it a more year-round pattern.

And here's my Ruby Dress!

I actually made a Ruby Top first, just a very basic version.

Here it is, belted.

Based on my measurements I cut out a size 6 with extra length to make it more tunic-y, and I felt like it came out a little big so I made a smaller one for the dress.  I knew with the dress I wanted to line the bodice, and Rae's tutorial on doing that mentioned that it would be good to try out the pattern without a lining first since it's easier to adjust the fit that way, so I was glad I had done the top first to give me a better idea of my bodice sizing.

As you can see, I made a few adjustments to the pattern:

I have been getting eaten alive by the mosquitos in Tokyo!

I added piping to the seam where the yoke and the rest of the dress join up.

I really like the way it looks, but since I did a lined bodice it made it a little difficult to join everything up nicely.  I would recommend saving the piping for when you are not making a lined bodice.

I continued the piping on the back as well.

I made these fun pockets to mimic the design of the top, with the white and the piping:

You can also see them in the photo at the top of the post.

I followed the tutorial for these pockets from anu*miki --I have made them with knit binding before on a dress for The Girl, which is easier, but it works with piping too as long as you are sure to make your opening big enough, since it's not going to stretch.

And I tried the dress on without the elastic waist, and just like the tunic, it's just not flattering to my body type that way.

Gotta have the belt!

For the tunic, I like belting it, and I have the option of tucking it in, so I didn't need to add the elastic waist, but I like having the waist in place permanently on the dress so I don't have to use a belt if I don't want to.

I left plenty of length on the bottom of the dress, since I knew I'd need it if I added the elastic waist, so I decided to have the dress hit just at my knee instead of the mini-length of the pattern, which works better if you can pull off that no-waist mod-shift-mini look!

This dress is perfect for lounging at my tea house in my peaceful Japanese garden, like I do.

Just kidding!  This was taken at the Inokashira Zoo.

I'm excited to make a dress and top with sleeves for fall--that will bring my price per piece on the pattern down to just $4. I can live with that!