Jigsaw

As if my brain doesn't have enough to do at the moment, what with reading bad handwriting in the thankfully dwindling exam paper pile, figuring out what a student means to write as opposed to what they actually wrote and should I give them a mark or not; in my downtime, I decided to give the German Pattern Company a try. As the internet shopping parcels arrive regularly I had the pattern and the fabric ready to go and choose this rather delightful summer dress (British weather be damned!).

First up I must say that the pattern pieces from this company are well marked and printed on a paper somewhere between printer paper and tissue - so not too damaging to the fabric scissors. Each pattern has a full colour photograph of the finished garment - no cartoons or sketches - and so provides a good visual reference. This is absolutely necessary as the instructions look like this..... not a diagram in sight!

 Between my schoolgirl German, google translate (crap) and teenage son's school dictionary, I managed, I think, to get the gist of what to do.

The pattern pieces are printed in colour too - all you do is choose your size and cut on the appropriate coloured line. I'm purple.










This dress turned out to be a jigsaw puzzle. Here's all the necessary pieces cut out and hopefully matched up before sewing. There are also two ties, each 150cm long, that are attached to the front opening and wrap around the dress, more for decoration than functionality.

Strange thing with the sleeves though: see the three pieces towards the window? The cap of the sleeve is a separate piece. With my limited translation powers I wasn't sure whether I should have patched the pattern pieces together and then cut out as one or did as I did and cut out separately.

I was a little disappointed with the fabric though. It is the beautiful shade of cornflower blue with little flowery motifs but it is polyester and as such rather stiff and 'flat'. I carried on regardless hoping that a good pressing and a wash would soften the fabric down into a flowing cotton. I really do expect too much from my washing machine!

I sewed all the bits in assembly -line sewing and this really sped things along. Each seam is also topstitched. I used stitch size 3mm for this and did this in assembly-line style too. Pressing as I went.

The result is somewhat disappointing though.

The fabric didn't soften and sits out from the body like cardboard.

The dress pulls across the bust, partly because it is a smidgeon too tight and partly because there is no give in the poly.

It is completely see-through too and reminds me of something utilitarian -like a housework frock, rather than a romantic summer dress.

 I may not give up on on the pattern just yet and regard this blue affair as an unwearable muslin. A bit disappointing for my first precious sewing time these days but live a little learn a lot.

There are always good things to come out of any enterprise:

• My German is improving
• My topstitching was even and straight(ish)
• I figured out the jigsaw puzzle
• I know not to buy 100% polyester for a summer dress
• I like the German Pattern Company.

Thanks for reading. Ruth