Collared Keyhole Dress

Holy balloons! It's already July! I have been doing a lot of kitchen work the last few weeks. All it needs is a new floor and new cabinets, which are coming in tomorrow! Hooray!

I'm not sure whether this is post-worthy because there is one issue I have with this dress, but I'm showing it off anyway, at least the front (I'm also apparently making it a very wordy post!). It had the potential, and I suppose still has the potential, to be something I would wear often. However, it all depends on what I've eaten that day. I say that because... DUN DUN DUN! The waist is a taaaad too small...

I cut out TWO sizes smaller than I would normally do because the finished bust measurement made me think the dress would be wide (the finished bust measurement over the body measurement was a few inch difference). The bust did end up being larger. However, I ended up needing maybe another inch at the waist to make this dress comfortable. I can still zip up, but there is some fabric stretching if I were to bend in any direction (like those horizontal folds across my mid-section). Aside from it being a tad too small, I would definitely make this again, but in a bigger size of course.

The pattern is Simplicity 1755 and the fabric is one of those polyester silky print fabrics from Joanns. I have a semi love-hate for polyester. Polyester does give off the impression of being cheap and it generally doesn't breathe as well as natural fabrics. However, duh it's cheap and affordable for me, the draping is nice, and I'm tempted by the prints much like I am for quilting cottons. I'm not the type of person who needs 100% ORGANIC/NATURAL FABRICS, so I mean... No strong opinions about polyester either way. Although, I do side-eye companies that sell polyester items at $300+...

Tried to pattern match!
Anyways, at least this fabric seems fairly soft and not too heavy for warmer weather. This fabric frayed A LOT and does seem to get stretched out at the seams if you were to pull on it. Most everything is sewn with french seams, though I did double-stitch and tightly overlock where the fabric and lining meet the zipper since I did not want to have the zipper sewn only to the fabric (I feel like that would have stretched and ripped apart...). I hope no tearing occurs. The pattern does not call for finished seams any specific way, but french seams for most everything seems doable (I even french seamed the pockets!).

I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out how high I needed to bring up the shoulder, which I definitely needed to do since the bust placements were off (I'll have to adjust it next time). The instructions have you install the zipper and then add the collar to finish off the top. I like having the tops of the zipper meet the top of the neckline, rather than have the zippers tuck off to the side and enclosed in the neckline (I feel like it wouldn't close nicely even with the hook and eye). I ended up placing the collar in first (after multiple iterations...) before installing the zipper.

Some close ups...