Why it is so good to sew

OK.

My sister Nancy and my 14 year old niece Sophia have been staying with me for two weeks. 

They have both being losing their minds trying to find something to wear to the wedding in September so one of the things I have done over the last three days is make them both dresses.

They both chose their own fabric (OK Nancy twice because RTW and sewing patterns are not the same size ...) and I did the measurements, alterations, and sewing.

What I did in terms of alterations was very simple but it is instructive on how hard it is to get RTW to fit a normal real body.

Here we go.

Sophia brought down a chiffon in her favourite colours purple, blue and navy. 

She is 14 and petite. However she is a competitive breast stroke swimmer and has very developed swimmer's shoulders. She is also a modest kid and has no interest in looking sleazy which seems to be the trend for young teens. The wedding is fairly formal but she felt being a short person she would be swamped in something long so we decided to do high low.

The alterations were size 14 for her shoulders, shortening the torso by 2", the skirt by 4", taking in the waist 1" and curving the centre back seam to accommodate her shoulder development.

Sophia is pleased with the result and definitely we could not have been able to find anything to fit her: like this dress does:

The braces were removed two days ago. She is so happy about that.

This is the back of a competitive backstroker

Side view so you can see the high low

Sophia's mom, my sister Nancy, has a small boned frame and she buys a size six. That was the size she cut out in her original pattern when I wasn't looking.

The fact is that Nancy has a size 6 shoulder and a 14+ hip. If you sew you get the picture.

This necessitated a trip to the fabric store that no one minded at all. In the end we decided we liked the new fabric better anyway.

Here is her dress done with the additions made to the width where she needed it. Another situation where it would have been impossible to buy anything to fit and we think she looks terrific:

And finally a mother and daughter shot, with Nancy holding up Sophia's hair to show her back (actually in case you are wondering the back right does fit, figure she was standing crooked and self-conscious for the pictures - being 14 is not the best age for posing):

So that was my sewing last weekend. 

This weekend I made a silk skirt for my daughter to wear one of the pre-wedding events and if I get my school work done early enough it is off to start on the flower girl dresses.

Wish me luck.