Today I wore a dress, in public, that I designed and made myself. I've never done this before, because although I've made a few bits and pieces for myself, I've never made anything that I felt looked finished enough to actually wear!
I checked and double checked with Jim and the girls that it looked like a dress, that people might wear, and I left it hanging around for a week or two after finishing it, in the hopes that that would give me some professional distance from it.
But it didn't work. Because I still spent all day feeling as though people were looking at me and thinking "she clearly made that herself. It's so obviously homemade!". And even worse, feeling as though all people could see was a piece of fabric I bought, that I was pretending was a dress!
The fabric is Denyse Schmidt Greenfield Hill voile and the pattern is the same as this one, with a few tweaks. Including two darts down the back and a couple of pleats on the arms and the neckline. I also finished the inside raw edge of the neckline with bias binding and then folded it in and topstitched it to give the neckline some structure.
I still think that it needs a few changes - although the original plan was to make a straight forward tunic, I've found that I actually want a more fitted, figure skimming dress, so next time I'll probably add some more darts and pull it in slightly at the waist.
I wonder though, if there's a point that you stop feeling conspicuous when wearing something you made yourself? Is it just a matter of practice? Do you stop feeling self conscious? Or is it just me?!
