1940's Dress Finished But Do I Like It?

Have you ever finished making something and try it on then realise you look awful in it?! Well that's what happened to me for the 1940's dress. I really wasn't happy with the neckline. My husband of course said it looked beautiful and thought I was panicking over nothing but you can't really trust your husband now can you?!

Here are a few pictures - sorry about the rubbishness of them I was in a rush to make it right! I did smile though :-) 

My blog writing laptop in the corner :-)

I actually liked the back.

So late that night only two days away from the ball I go about unpicking the front section of the dress. I did have a few topless moments of Hugh Jackman in some robot movie to ease the pain of undoing all my hard work ;-) 

The next morning I start to construct a new front for the dress. I used my dress form to the max and just pinned bits of fabric to it until I liked the look of it! I wanted to make it into a v-neck rather than the round neckline. I saw a few dresses which had this kind of shape so based the new design on those. I didn't have much time to take many photos, but here are a few of the work in progress.

The starting of the v neck shape. I added gathers under the bust and at the shoulder to add more interest

I added a straight piece of fabric for a makeshift shoulder pad look and gathered fabric onto that.

This is what I decided to go with so I just did the same on the other side and sewed it together!

 So after all that drama I was very happy with the results and was pleased I decided to change the neckline. Cinderella would be ready for the ball after all!! 

Have you ever done the same thing to one of your creations? What did you change? Did it work in the end? I would love to hear your stories so please feel free to comment. I will post some pictures of the actual 1940's ball very soon....