Mystic Trench + Moss Go-Go Dress

Like a cross between something out of Game of Thrones and something out of MadMen-raised by Klingons..

I cut this trench out for velosewer’s Trench Sewalong (inspiration post here) right after finishing my mini-trench (donated to the op-shop not long after) but my sewing machine gave up the ghost halfway through and spent the next two months at the shop.

Yes it is winter here. Which explains the strange light and overall lack of saturation..

This style is very unstructured (and drop shouldered-why didn’t I notice from the line diagram?) with no fastenings-which works fine because I cross the fronts and tuck the outer one under my bag when I’m out and about.

I will eventually sew in a pair of magnets in the front (when I come across free fridge-advertising material with an acceptable level of magnetism).

The waist (surprisingly) hits exactly at my natural waistline (I’m a Burdastyle petite i.e. 2 cm shorter than average). The back skirt has a bunch of box pleats that emphasise the area somewhat..

Pattern booby-trap alert: the cowl is way too narrow to get a human head through-and not just on my graded-down version either: after sewing it up without a care (Patrones patterns fit me out of the box yo, why bother? Famous second-last words-the last words were all four lettered) and realising I couldn’t actually get into it I measured the neck width on all sizes and realised whatever garment it was based off of probably had a centre back seam invisible zipper (helpfully omitted from the Patrones version).

I narrowed the cowl seams to the absolute bleedin’ (fraying more like it) edges and now I can just about get it over my head. Lucky raw silk has a lotta give. Ha.

Anyway-it’s great for any event that involves eating. Using a stiff fabric instead of the drapey stuff used in the magazine means the dress has a firm inverted cone shape that successfully masks any lunch-baby curves.

Also great if you plan on being a backup singer in a soul group.

How awesome were the seventies? Every single person in that video is fit.

Which reminds me: the next SoulAGoGo (which looks interesting based purely off their Facewank page) will be on the 6th of July, 2013 and Roxy’s getting a bunch of sewistas together in wiggle dresses for a meetup at the event. If you’re in, sign up at her blog.

Speaking of sewists’ meetups, here’s a bunch of us at the V&A Hollywood Costume exhibit at ACMI:

From left: Kathleen (blog-less and fancy-free), Nicole, Emily (bustin’ out the medical tricorder for a last minute scan), moi, Jenny and Roxy (the only shot out of seven that didn’t feature blinking/haze/shakiness/or other seizure-inducing effects).

If you’d like to come along for the next day/night meetup, enter your details here and I’ll send you an invite to the next do I organise.

Pattern Details

Trench Pattern: Patrones Extra 284, Trench 29

Trench Fabric: Crushed faux silk (super warm due to being 99% non-breathable)

Modifications: None. Be warned: this means it is a petite pattern.

I omitted the pockets and shortened the shoulder width because I don’t like wearing drop-shouldered styles but this was for style not fit. The fit is perfect for me as is.

Dress Pattern: Patrones 306, Dress 20

Dress Fabric: Raw silk in dark Moss, cowl faced with gold charmeuse silk

Modifications: Shortened 2 cm at the waist, widened neck by a whopping 1.8 cm

Inner seams and hems for both garments finished using a narrow hem foot.

Deco tights by Fiore.