Failed Thrifting

I was all excited to write  a post about this dress:

It’s Dress E from Stylish Dresses.  It was a good challenge to make–bust darts, long front pleats, set-in sleeves, and neckfacing.  In the end I was relatively happy with how it turned out with all of those fun shaping techniques in one garment.  And I was super excited that I finally used some thrift fabric I picked up awhile ago–four yars for $4 or something like that.  And this, dear readers, is where my title comes in.  I wore that dress for one day, after I had finished it, and it was good. The sleeves were a bit more snug than I would have liked, and it was a bit shorter than I wanted, but it was light-weight and twirled nicely in a circle with L4.  And it had POCKETS!  Then I washed it.  Sadly it shrunk.  While I can still put it on, the sleeves are now very tight and it is about two inches shorter.  My failed thrifting dress has now been gifted to L4 who has it with her dress-up clothes and is happy as a clam about it.  I have learned my lesson–do NOT buy fabric if you are unsure of the fiber content.  I’m relatively certain at this point that my thrift fabric was at least partially synthetic, most likley rayon.  I generally just buy cotton or linen fabrics and will stick to that rule after this mishap.  And dress e from Stylish Dresses?  I may make it again someday, but first my sore heart and bruised ego must grieve.