Lilou II

This dress has cost me so much nerves, I can't even start describing it. Or maybe, I'll just give it a try: to understand how much energy and willpower it has taken me to sew this dress you have to know that it took me almost two years to finish it!!

 After making my first Lilou in 2014, which went relatively fast, I really thought the second one wouldn't be a big deal anymore. I only wanted to add the lining to the bodice and that's it. But for some reason it all went wrong (as I already described in this blog post) and I was extremely demotivated with the whole project. I could only finish it by taking super-mini-baby-steps at a time, e.g. one day only to sew the hem, one day only to attach the lining to the bodice, etc.

The result is ok. It's better than expected after all the cursing and sweating but it's definitely not better than my first Lilou, which was what I had hoped for. Here are my main points of annoyance:

• The lining. After I destroyed the first one I became so frustrated I just went for the toile that I had already made and used it as a lining. The fabric is cheap and flimsy - it works but it doesn't look great.
• The hems. I cut the fabric a bit short and in order not waste too much at the hem, I used bias tape. Nothing against bias tape, it kind of saved my sanity in this case but it just doesn't fit the fabric very well. 
• The inside seams. I tried to follow Tilly's instructions to fix the lining to the bodice and the skirt by hand but I utterly failed. I don't know how it's supposed to work but my guess is that I had too little seam allowance at the top of the skirt so there was no way I could slip the bodice fabric under it. I used bias tape (again) and got a semi-satisfactory result.
• The zip. I was supposed to go for an invisible zip but it turned out very much visible. It's actually neither a bad invisible one nor a good visible one, I just somehow muddled through. 
• The fit. It stills pinches the skin under my arms! I thought I had figured it out after the first dress but apparently, no. 

But there are also some things I like and I did actually wear it to a wedding in the end, feeling quite proud of this achievement in spite of all the cons. I like

• The swinging skirt, really fun to dance in!
• The fabric: still one of my favourites even though the print is actually faulty and blurred in some places
• The pleats: bloody awful work to make them align with the bodice but it has paid off

I think the lesson I'm taking away from this project from hell is that I'm not that much of a sewing-person after all. Knitting, that's my thing! I envy all the amazing seamstresses and seamsters that can just sit down, follow the pattern instructions, and have a perfectly fitting garment. Yeah, I'm not like that. I might leave those ambitious projects for a while and only do some very simple stuff to keep me entertained and then I should REALLY invest in some sewing lessons.