This is a belated pattern review. I made this dress back in August, just days before my summer vacation. I've worn it 4 times in the past 2 months and I can honestly say I loooove this dress! It's one of those patterns where it's hard to see what it really looks like in the model photo, and I don't think the line drawing is a good representation of how the dress looks on an actual human body.
At the riad in Morocco
Fabric
50/50 cotton/silk woven from my local fabric store.
Notes on construction/alterations
This dress pattern is one of BWOF's petite offerings. In regular-sized patterns I tend to remove a bit of length between my waist and hip, so I just used the petite pattern as is with no adjustments.
As you can see, I lengthened the dress to floor-length, since I was really wanting a maxi-dress. To do this and still end up with a managable sized pattern piece, I removed some of the flare from the skirt during tracing. I just over-guesstimated the length so I'd have plenty to work with when hemming.
This is what happens when you're in a hurry and you don't make a muslin. Makes you shudder, doesn't it? Let me tell you, I freaked out when I tried on the dress-in-progress and saw this. Do you know why this happened? Because the V-neckline is cut on the bias, and I didn't stabilize it ahead of time. Thankfully I was able to save it. I fused a 1/2" strip of interfacing to where I planned the new (wider, lower) neckline. In addition to restitching the neckline, I also scooped out more from the front center seam, a sort of small bust alteration, if you will.
Two rows of stitching hold the gathers at the shoulder line, and the back shoulder strap is gathered onto the back bodice.
The dress is very close-fitting between the bust and waist (something else I would have known if I had made a muslin). If I make this again, I'll go up a size.
Conclusion
This could have easily landed in the wadder pile; thank goodness it didn't, it's been one of my favorite sewn pieces recently. I'd consider making this again now that I've got the bodice fit down!
31 comments:
I love this dress!!!! I've had my eye on it for a while now. Thanks for the heads up on the fit. Your finished version is beautiful and I love the color.
The color is brilliant, and the back is almost more beautiful than the front! Love the whole thing.
That dress looks incredible on you! The color is fabulous!
I am so happy you were able to save it. The color is freaking FABULOUS!! If it was in my wardrobe I would love it just as much as you. Great job!
First off, great save! I would have been coming unglued. I adore the color. Purple has always looked good with my skin tone and I'm so happy it's so popular again. You look beautiful, I can see why it's a favorite.
Your dress is so much nicer than the Burda version. I really love it!
Beatrice in Germany
Gorgeous...simply gorgeous! Mary
This is a great dress on you...I can see why you've worn it 4x! And you really should make it again, maybe for work with a great little cardi over it.
I looked at this more than once & being petite, thought about trying it. Now I think I should, next spring. That color is awesome, too.
marvelous save and what an awesome, awesome dress. You've got the market on causal chic. Very nyc and international I think.
Christina .- was divine. The color purple is very appropriate for the model, I congratulate you. greetings, Paco
Fabulous dress - great save! I was wondering about that pattern and it looks better than I would have imagined from the pictures in the magazine.
Great save and a million times better than the magazine photo, and line drawing for that matter. I love it, and the colour you chose.
Ooh, I love this dress on you. ANd thanks for the Google Reader/ Bloglines education. Very helpful.
Totally great. I thought the original was very cute and yours doubles the cuteness factor.
I would have been sweating bullets trying to save this one!
It's beautiful!
I love it, especially with the gold belt!! I'm glad you were able to rescue it.
I love this color on you, this dress look amazing
What a stunning dress!! I love everything about it! Truly divine!
Beautiful dress.
It's beautiful! I have this traced out but have yet to put it to fabric. You make me want to do it even if I won't be able to wear it until next spring!
This dress is awesome. I love the color on you! Perfect!
Fabulous! I looked many times at the dress and drawing in the magazine and decided not to make it. Now I am definitely changing my mind! I love that you made it maxi-length.
Beautiful!
And looks amazing on you...and it match perfectly with the color of your hair!
Great save...shows how talented you really are!
Perfect style and color on you, it's almost hard to believe you got it to turn out so well looking at that bodice pic! The fabric looks familiar, did you make a top out of it too?
Thanks for the tips on this dress. I'd been wondering how this one would turn out, but you're right. The pix don't show how great it looks. Yours looks fantastic, so I may have to try it. And how lucky you are to have a local fabric store that sells great fabric!
This dress looks lovely on you. Great colour! And you are right, the line drawings do not tell the true story. Very flattering.
Oh no. I soooo wish I had seen this. I am in the middle of the exact same dress, out of silk charmeuse, and had the EXACT same thing with the neckline. And I thought, two pattern pieces, how can I go wrong?
I am, however, a beginner, and wasn't sure how to fix it, so the stupid thing has been in the wadded pile for a long time now. I eventually put Steam-A-Seam along the facing to try to regain some shape.
Mine actually looks I think quite a bit like your neckline now. But worse, they stretched unevenly, so one is not quite the same as the other. I'm still fiddling with it.
How would I have prevented this? Stay stitching the moment it was cut? I didn't want to fuse anything onto the delicate silk.
I was also really impressed once the pieces started to come together how much nicer it hangs on a real person than in the line drawing. It makes a real bustline, the darts look a lot more complicated than they are!
Oh - and you stitched over the shoulder gathering? I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not, just brace it from behind...another mystery solved!
excelent job! i like a lot ur look ^,^i studing dising but im work and student so is dificult but im try it!so im do mydress 4 wedding when finish im show u it! nice havenice day!
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