Romper Dress Thingy
Ugh, I just cannot get into rompers. I have tried and tried but they just don't look right on me. Not in the same print, though. I have been toying with the idea of making one with like a solid bottom and print on top to make it look like separates, but no go on that yet. But I did take apart a romper I made and turned it into a dress instead, so I'm not too upset that I haven't nailed rompers. Anywho, here she is!
This came from the Romper pattern in the Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book that my husband got for me. It started off as the Halter Top from the same book, but she has a variant for that top to make it into a romper by adding shorts. Easy enough, right? Yeah, it was easy. Super easy. The halter top has some ruching on the sides that come from using the elastic thread in the bobbin and then you steam it and it shrinks up but still stays super stretchy. Plus, it hugs the body nicely without being too snug because its like a knit... kinda. Anyways, I made the romper and it fit well, but I just did not like the way it looked on me. Maybe it was the all over print? I dunno.
Ooh... ruching...
Ooh... inside ruching...
So there it sat for forever until I decided one day to take it all apart and have just the halter, but I made mine without straps to begin with. So it was more like a tube top, I guess. Then it sat for another forever until I decided that I liked the top part just fine, but it was a little short for my liking, so I thought "why not add a skirt and just make it a dress?" Plus it had been sitting on my ironing board and I was trying to clear it off because I had no room to iron. Then it just came down to picking a good skirt, and I had my mind set on a full skirt for some reason. So I searched through my Trello app (where I now have all my patterns organized) for circle skirts and found this one.
Ok, so it was for a dress that I have not made yet, but I loved the skirt part so I cut out a skirt from this pattern and we were ready to assemble! I had a really lovely, heavy black fabric that I got from my mom, I think. It has a lot of structure to it and I thought it would balance out the plaid pattern from the top nicely. I had just enough to make the skirt, minus a few inches. Its still a good length for me, ending right below my knee. I hate knees. I have to agree with Coco Chanel that knees are awful and skirts should fall right below the knee. #Fact
Anyways, I was at a loss whether or not to even add straps when it came time, so I asked my mom and she suggested keeping it strapless. I hadn't even thought of that, but it only needed some boning and a waist stay and it would be good to go. So I added just that, sewing on the casings for the bonings and making my first ever waist stay. I had read about them in Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book when she made some strapless dresses, but I never thought I might need one. But since this skirt fabric is so heavy and structured and the top blouse part is such a lightweight fabric. Aaaaand I was going to make it strapless. So to make sure it wasn't going anywhere, I made my first waist stay. I had found a huge tote full of grosgrain ribbon and trims at our local thrift store a few days before and picked out a couple of sizes that I thought would work well for a waist stay.
This was easier than I thought it would be! I tacked it to the inside of the waist part of the dress and it fits nice and snug around my waist to help stop the dress from slipping downwards. Its all good now!
The zipper was the worst part because I had originally used a white zipper on the romper and wanted to use it for the dress, but for some reason it kept showing through on the skirt part, as if the skirt was being stretched too tight across my hips. It wasn't because its very loose everywhere. So in an effort to not buy anything, I ended up taking it out and replacing it with a cream colored invisible zipper (which I usually despise) that I had on hand. It went in ok, but same thing on the skirt part; you could see zipper! I took it out and re-did the zipper, but still it showed on the skirt part only. So I ended up going to Wally World and just buying a black zipper because me and this dress were almost done with each other at this point. lol.
Ugh... VZL. Visible Zipper Lines. haha
So after I attached the black zipper and finished the waist stay, I tried it on and it was still just a tad unsupportive in the front. So I took some more boning and added some just to the sides of the center front and it fit so much better! I had also added some bra pads to the bust area in between the lining and fashion fabric to give it some more shape because the bust area was a big too big. Everywhere else fit just fine, but now the bust fits a bit better since the cups take up some slack. Its still a little loose, but its not going anywhere. With the boning and the waist stay, she's secure af.
It looks like I have some bewbs in this, but it was easier to just add the pads than to take it all in at the bust area. No harm. I also did some gathering right in between the girls to help it conform more to my body. It just kind of pulls the area in a little bit. Like a boob hug. I'm still working on the straps, so for now she'll be strapless. Boom!
The bright white strips on the sides and back are where I added the boning for support.
And I realize the front two pieces I added in last minute aren't equal in length, but that's on the inside and no one will know. Except you... cause you read this... Don't tell. :-D
This came from the Romper pattern in the Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book that my husband got for me. It started off as the Halter Top from the same book, but she has a variant for that top to make it into a romper by adding shorts. Easy enough, right? Yeah, it was easy. Super easy. The halter top has some ruching on the sides that come from using the elastic thread in the bobbin and then you steam it and it shrinks up but still stays super stretchy. Plus, it hugs the body nicely without being too snug because its like a knit... kinda. Anyways, I made the romper and it fit well, but I just did not like the way it looked on me. Maybe it was the all over print? I dunno.
Ooh... ruching...
Ooh... inside ruching...
So there it sat for forever until I decided one day to take it all apart and have just the halter, but I made mine without straps to begin with. So it was more like a tube top, I guess. Then it sat for another forever until I decided that I liked the top part just fine, but it was a little short for my liking, so I thought "why not add a skirt and just make it a dress?" Plus it had been sitting on my ironing board and I was trying to clear it off because I had no room to iron. Then it just came down to picking a good skirt, and I had my mind set on a full skirt for some reason. So I searched through my Trello app (where I now have all my patterns organized) for circle skirts and found this one.
Ok, so it was for a dress that I have not made yet, but I loved the skirt part so I cut out a skirt from this pattern and we were ready to assemble! I had a really lovely, heavy black fabric that I got from my mom, I think. It has a lot of structure to it and I thought it would balance out the plaid pattern from the top nicely. I had just enough to make the skirt, minus a few inches. Its still a good length for me, ending right below my knee. I hate knees. I have to agree with Coco Chanel that knees are awful and skirts should fall right below the knee. #Fact
Anyways, I was at a loss whether or not to even add straps when it came time, so I asked my mom and she suggested keeping it strapless. I hadn't even thought of that, but it only needed some boning and a waist stay and it would be good to go. So I added just that, sewing on the casings for the bonings and making my first ever waist stay. I had read about them in Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book when she made some strapless dresses, but I never thought I might need one. But since this skirt fabric is so heavy and structured and the top blouse part is such a lightweight fabric. Aaaaand I was going to make it strapless. So to make sure it wasn't going anywhere, I made my first waist stay. I had found a huge tote full of grosgrain ribbon and trims at our local thrift store a few days before and picked out a couple of sizes that I thought would work well for a waist stay.
This was easier than I thought it would be! I tacked it to the inside of the waist part of the dress and it fits nice and snug around my waist to help stop the dress from slipping downwards. Its all good now!
The zipper was the worst part because I had originally used a white zipper on the romper and wanted to use it for the dress, but for some reason it kept showing through on the skirt part, as if the skirt was being stretched too tight across my hips. It wasn't because its very loose everywhere. So in an effort to not buy anything, I ended up taking it out and replacing it with a cream colored invisible zipper (which I usually despise) that I had on hand. It went in ok, but same thing on the skirt part; you could see zipper! I took it out and re-did the zipper, but still it showed on the skirt part only. So I ended up going to Wally World and just buying a black zipper because me and this dress were almost done with each other at this point. lol.
Ugh... VZL. Visible Zipper Lines. haha
So after I attached the black zipper and finished the waist stay, I tried it on and it was still just a tad unsupportive in the front. So I took some more boning and added some just to the sides of the center front and it fit so much better! I had also added some bra pads to the bust area in between the lining and fashion fabric to give it some more shape because the bust area was a big too big. Everywhere else fit just fine, but now the bust fits a bit better since the cups take up some slack. Its still a little loose, but its not going anywhere. With the boning and the waist stay, she's secure af.
It looks like I have some bewbs in this, but it was easier to just add the pads than to take it all in at the bust area. No harm. I also did some gathering right in between the girls to help it conform more to my body. It just kind of pulls the area in a little bit. Like a boob hug. I'm still working on the straps, so for now she'll be strapless. Boom!
The bright white strips on the sides and back are where I added the boning for support.
And I realize the front two pieces I added in last minute aren't equal in length, but that's on the inside and no one will know. Except you... cause you read this... Don't tell. :-D
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