I got Romana I started this weekend.
I originally bought 8 yards of fabric – the Jet Set Poly from Joann’s. I bought 8 yards because, besides needing extra for the pleated section, I’m also self-lining it since it’s so thin.
I’m using good old Simplicity 9891 – mine has been used so many times it looks like a giant bag of wadded up trash whenever I pull it out LOL. It’s torn and at one point the top of the main pieces got torn off and I had to make up a replacement. I think next time there’s a sale on Simplicity patterns I need to buy a new copy!
Anyway – so here’s Romana’s dress:
(btw, have I mentioned my amazing wig? I’ll take a picture of it later this week. I’m super happy with it.)
For the side front, I expanded it quite a bit – probably tripled its size – to have enough material for the pleated section. I’m going to create some gores to add into the front to add more pleating below the hip line. I haven’t decided if I want that hip seam to be an actual seam, or just fake it.
So anyway like I said, I thought 8 yards would be enough but it was only enough for the body of the dress:
And that picture isn’t much to look at, is it?
I didn’t have enough for the sleeves (which I’m using from a different pattern, it’s some old Butterick pattern and I don’t have the number handy at the moment). Luckily the Jet Set was on sale last night and I ordered 2 more yards – enough for the sleeves and the gores, hopefully – and that’s what prompted last night’s blog post about shipping, because my shipping was 5 cents more than my fabric.
This week I’m going to get the main body of the dress put together, and get the pleats done at the shoulder.