Colette Macaron

"I feel pretty Oh so pretty I feel pretty and witty and gay And I pity Any girl who isn't me today I feel charming Oh so charming It's alarming how charming I feel" Westside Story.

Isn't it great, that my 16 yo will probably never read my sewing blog! I made this dress for her for a vocal contest, which she sadly did not win. But she bounces back really quick because she just wants to be a stage diva instead of an opera singer.

Back to business:  This is the Colette Macaron pattern.  Colette patterns seem to be well drafted and thoughtful.  I really like how she angles some of the pattern corners so that when matching up they fit in the corner of the other piece so well.   This is a really easy pattern.  As any pattern for wovens, you will most likely be doing some fitting.  Also, Colette drafts for a C cup.  I made a muslin of just the top portions in a cotton and mostly took up the circumference of the ribcage and bust area.  I also shortened the distance from the shoulders to the bust. These are typical fitting issues for my daughter. 
I should have made a muslin with similar fabric to what the dress was going to made from.  The dress in the pic is cotton sateen and a sheer poly knit.  When I made this dress up, the knit portion was too long because I did not take into consideration the stretch going downward.  I just tightened the sides more and deepened the shoulder seem.  To relieve some of the bagginess in the back from the same issue, I just added some darts at the shoulder blade. 

She is not standing straight, so it is hard to judge the fit.  This is all the tweaking I could do with the vocal contest the next day. 

Lastly, I did not do the sleeves and I used fold over black elastic instead of binding for the neck and sleeve edges. Under her arms, I could have done a better job tightening the elastic. Oh well, she thinks that she wants many, many dresses with this pattern in various and sundry colors and fabrics. whew!

Carry on.....