So We Try Something Else

[akirlu]

Well, so, the eShakti first try was not a success. The fabric and the workmanship were swell, and the delivery faster than promised, but the dress is painfully too small. Going up a size was not enough to get a good fit through the chest, and also the cut on the bodice is bizarre. On the dummy it looks like the banded bodice comes down to the natural waist (despite being advertised to have an empire waist, which it really does not look like) in fact the band portion catches me in my lower ribcage and I'm here to tell you that a skirt that flares out from my ribs is just AWKWARD. There are still so many things I like about the concept of this dress, and I will definitely try eShakti again and possibly even try gaming this particular dress in a larger size by playing with the height I list to see if that makes for a longer waist, but all that's gonna have to wait until we get home from LonCon, because there isn't time for another cycle of waiting for the dress to be made up and shipped from India before we leave. Botheration.

The smart thing to do in this case would be to give up on the idea of a dress with pockets to travel in, because time is compressing like an internal combustion piston chamber on the upstroke, but really, why would I do the smart thing? Not as if I have too much to do in the remaining weeks already. Err...

So yesterday I swung by Joann Fabric and picked up this Vogue pattern which I mean to put a boat neck on instead of the vee, and this fairly riddonkulous purple-dominated cotton batik fabric, plus a like amount of cheap muslin to line it with and we'll see how Easy this Easy Vogue really is. I Do Not Have Too Many Projects, Dammit! At the very least this made me appreciate the value of eShakti. Pattern, fabric, thread, and notions cost me roughly 50% more than a finished dress (on sale) from eShakti, even with shipping. If I can figure out how to game eShakti to get me clothes that fit, they will be seeing more business from me. Certainly they make returns very easy, have a liberal return policy, and obviously want to try to convert unsuccessful sales into successful ones -- if you get a gift card for a return instead of cash/credit back, they give you 20% additional value on the card.

Comments

[athenais.livejournal.com]

But I don't see the pockets listed for that pattern. It's lovely, though, and the batik is awesome.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It's not totally easy to tell on a small picture but the model on the pattern envelope actually has her hands in the pockets, not behind her back, and if you look super closely at the rear views of the first two options they do have the pockets indicated. Anyway, thanks! I like the dress, am pleased by the number of positive reviews by women in good looking dresses, and I'm trying not to have second thoughts about the batik...

[athenais.livejournal.com]

So she does! And judging by the reviewers it takes a pattern well, so the batik should be fine. Although one never knows until one tries it on, of course.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Fabulous fabric! Hope it works out well.

The eShakti site is enough to make me want to wear dresses again...and to have a body they look good in.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I had the great good luck to find the very nearly perfect Going to Weddings dress while I was in Boston for the lead up to pecunium's wedding, and when I wore it to work a while back (because I was attending Andi and Stu's wedding immediately from work -- first time I've been able to just stroll over to a wedding ceremony from the office) I was reminded how pleasantly free and breezy it feels to wear a comfortable dress in warm weather, and so I've been aiming to get back to wearing dresses and skirts more because it's comfortable of all things.

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

BOOO on eShakti. That is too bad. I like the batik, you might be able to get away with only lining the bodice. (But then I like to cheat on linings when I can.)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to try the burrito method of lining the bodice, and then make up the 'lining' for the skirt as a built in slip/underskirt -- i.e. a separate layer from the skirt itself. My Lord & Taylor Jones New York dress is done this way and it's tremendously comfortable and 'finished'-feeling to wear. Though given the need to place a back zipper, I may simply flat line the bodice instead. I need to limit my unneccessary complications somewhat.