So, I tried on the bodice yesterday and realized that my eyes were not deceiving me and that the waist was a bit tight. I measured it--again; I measured it like seven times before I sewed it on--and it was 31 inches. Thirty-one inches, total, including the seam allowance at the ends and the overlap where the dress buttons closed. So, yes, I would be able to button it, I just wouldn't be able to eat/breathe/sit down once I had it on.
I swear I did the super-basic arithmetic on this about a dozen times before I cut the inset belt. The pattern was missing this piece but it's not like it should be hard to replicate, right? It's a rectangle. And yet I managed to overthink it and screw it up.
Whatever I did involved borrowing a waistband from another dress and adding all sorts of numbers and things. Clearly I didn't do it right or the thing would fit now. So, I redid it all last night and sewed on the new inset belt.
It seemed kind of long but . . . well, I've never sewn a dress with that much overlap down the front before. Right?
It occurred to me at midnight as I was trying to fall asleep that I over-added. I added four inches total for a two-inch overlap; I think I should have added two inches (one inch each side of the center, right). This morning, I got out a measuring tape, marked it with a barrette at 33 inches (my waistband minus 1/2 inch x 2 seam allowance) and, sure enough--it was too big, even with the ends overlapped. I should just have, after slapping my forehead, added 28 + 1/2(2) seam allowance + 1 ease + 2 inches overlap = 32. I re-marked the measuring tape at 31 inches and it fit a lot better. Doh!
I'm blaming this on the fact that my mother and brother were watching a documentary on the Ku Klux Klan and I was distracted by the idiocy on TV and all their shouting at the idiocy on TV.
So, now I'm spending lunch ripping it off yet again and basting it back on. Last time, I swear.
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