Style Arc Adeline Dress

It's been a minute, and this isn't how I intended to get back to blogging. But I sewed something and I have some time to write about it, so here we are.

In April, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a shock, as most diagnoses probably are. And it's been a tornado of specialist appointments and allergic reactions and ER visits since then. I'm now halfway through chemo, but only a month into a year-long treatment regime that will also include surgery and radiation.

I haven't sewed much at all over the last couple of years due to just not having any time. Yet, somehow I managed to make this Style Arc Adeline Dress in between chemo cycles last month. 

This pattern had a major moment a few years ago, and, as usual, I'm very late to adopt. I thought of it when looking around for a sack dress that would make me feel put together and that I could wear no matter how much weight I had gained or fluid I had retained. It seemed like a great choice for this use, and I wasn't disappointed.

I went by my measurements and cut a size 12 shoulder graded to a size 14 at the bust on down. I read a lot of reviews and found that most people had skipped making full bust adjustments due to the ease in the pattern, so I decided to follow suit. The only other pattern adjustment I made was a 5/8" high round back adjustment. 

I don't love cuffed sleeves, so I just hemmed the sleeves at 1 1/4" and didn't turn them up. The dress is made of a navy linen that I got from Fabric Mart last year. I had just enough to make the dress without the pockets. I think, though, that if I make it again, I would want inseam pockets, not patch pockets like the ones the pattern comes with.

After making and wearing the dress, I found that my high round back adjustment wasn't enough - the dress still slips back off my shoulders a bit. In anticipation of making this dress again, I altered the pattern for a 3/4" low round back adjustment (because 5/8" is the maximum one should adjust a high round back; you are supposed to get the rest of the length you need from the low round adjustment per Palmer and Pletsch). I also lengthened my pattern 1", though now that I see these photos, I think maybe 1/2" would be enough. There's one more flat pattern adjustment I'd like to do before sewing it again: The v-neck gapes slightly, so I want to take a wedge out of it on either side.

These photos aren't my usual, but energy is in short supply these days. I had my sisters take them when I wore the dress out to dinner with them a couple of weeks ago. I felt stylish despite my swollen ankles and be-kerchiefed head.

Hope to return to this space again soon. Thanks for stopping by.