Another dress.. New Look 6000

My interest in sewing has piqued again with the completion of my vintage style dress.  My lust appreciation of vintage style things has risen and I find myself rabidly subscribing to a bunch of sewing blogs where retro is the theme.  (Consequently the number of scrapbooking blogs is decreasing - the industry style ones I might add - the personal blogs of friends I've made are still there).

As a direct result of some sewists in the UK and elsewhere blogging about New Look 6000 I purchased the pattern.

I loved the collar detail and cuffs on the red dress featured.  I also confess that the fact the main picture is of a red dress influenced me heavily.

Of course, my luck with patterns from a certain large store starting with S is hit and miss so the day I asked they only had the sizing up to 16... "No problem" I thought, "I can deal", not thinking about my current state of tum bulges and thunder thighs.  So I got it.  Fast forward to my actually laying out the pattern and realising there might be an issue with my larger bust and ..er.. Thunder Thighs. Fortunately there is a lot of ease in the pattern but I did grade up parts of the pattern to a larger size to accommodate the aforementioned.  I also lengthened the dress by a good 20cm - it still sits above my knees when seated though. [Insert moan about trend for short dresses]

Taking self portraits is so tricky!  Should have asked DH to help... impatient me. Here I am with a slice out of my head and the need for fill flash.

Sewing the pattern was straight forward enough.  I choose to do the view without the pleats this time, fearing it would accentuate my tummy bulges but I do like the effect the pleats have on others.

I think I mucked up cutting the cuff size because mine do not meet in the middle like they are supposed to.

The collar was surprisingly easy to do.  It's a bit wonky in the photo because I washed the dress last night and should have set the machine on a different setting as well as done a better job of ironing.  I love the oversized button.

The fabric is a wool/lurex mix I got from a sale.  It's nicely textured and a nice weight for autumn.

Although it would look vastly better on a skinnier version of me, I really like wearing this dress.  Makes me feel happy.  I am on the lookout for some red fabric of suitable weight for another make.