Figure skating dress fabric and Jalie pattern #2801

I did some more sewing over the weekend and completed Jalie pattern #2801, a dress with a large keyhole back for Ice Girl’s compulsory program.

As always, the Jalie instructions were good and it went together without any major sewing mistakes.

The mistake I made wasn’t in sewing; it was in the fabric choice. Again, I’m here to be your horrible warning.

I used this beautiful black stretch velvet with a pattern of sequins all over it. I made the white dress you see in the picture and cut out appliqués of the main fabric for the bottom of the black mesh sleeves. I thought I was so wise: all those sequins made for great sparkle. No crystals necessary.
So far, so good, right?

Well, the collar facing, the keyhole opening, and the leg openings are all in the sequin fabric, which is scratchy. Not the velvet part, but the sequins.
Just terrific. I spent hours on this beautiful, classy dress and Ice Girl complains that it is painful to wear.
My solution is to try to remove the sequins on the facings with some kind of solvent. We’ll see how that works.

Bottom line: Use fabric that won’t itch or scratch the skater. As much as I wanted to wring Ice Girl’s neck when she tried on the dress and began to whine, she had a point, darn it. Of course, this is the same kid who can feel a pea under her mattress, so maybe she’s blowing the whole thing out of proportion. Still, I’ll never buy fabric that even looks like it might be uncomfortable. I don’t care how much it sparkles.