Jet lag dress

I made this dress during the wee hours of the week after I returned from Singapore and was suffering from jet lag. I picked up this pattern for 25 cents at an estate sale a couple years ago, and I was very happy that it contained almost all the pieces I needed!

This is Simplicity pattern 6027 from 1973. (Fun fact: At least in the past, Simplicity recycled numbers. There seem to be 6027s from the 40s and 80s as well.) The pattern is a size 10, which fits my bust, but I had to add 4 inches at the waist (1 on each piece) and 6 inches at the hip (1 1/2 on each piece). I just used my gauge and tailor's chalk to mark the cutting line. Luckily, I didn't have to alter the front facing piece. The back facing was missing, so I had to make that one up. I just traced the curve of the back pattern piece and made it facing-shaped. I accidentally made it much narrower than the front facing, but it didn't hurt anything. I used a mostly cotton stretch knit. I made it green because I didn't have a green dress, and green is a pretty color.

I am pretty pleased with the alterations I made, although next time I'll try to make it slightly tighter just above and looser just below my waist. I think it clings a little there. I like the dress, but I think it looks a bit uniform-ish. It's probably because it's all one color and the fabric is a bit stiff. The cream-colored zigzag trim helps with that, but I still imagine myself with a little nurse's hat. I have some ideas for embellishments to the dress that I hope will also make it look more personal and fun.

There are three slight mistakes in the dress.

The trim looks a little weird right here. I was using a zigzag that reverses to go back over itself, and I wasn't quite careful enough there to make the corners right.

The trim doesn't line up right at the zipper. (But isn't the zipper beautifully set? I recently got an honest-to-goodness invisible zipper foot, and it makes a big difference.) My mom probably thinks (and rightly so) that it's sloppy that I didn't put a hook-and-eye at the top. They annoy me. Maybe when I grow up, I will not be annoyed by them. For now I have slightly gappy zipper tops.

The arm trim (right) is slightly paler than the rest of the trim (left). This is because I ran out of the arm trim thread, and the replacement thread was slightly darker. Unless I stand very strangely with my arm right against my neck or hem, I doubt this will be noticed.

I have worn the dress twice so far. Once (about thirty minutes after I finished the hem) to dinner with a friend and once to school. It's still a bit too hot here for someone as sweaty as I am to wear a dress with such tight sleeves, so I won't be wearing it again until it's cooler. I doubt I'll make this pattern again because it's so distinctive, and I don't know if I need two dresses like this in my wardrobe. I might make the tunic, which is just the dress cut off higher.