The Sunshine Dress Simplicity 1653

I actually made this dress awhile back for a girls night out and I am just now getting around to reviewing the pattern.

The inspiration for the dress came from a dress I saw in a clothing catalog:

Once I saw the dress, my goal was to make my own version and I knew this pattern would make a good match:

I found the perfect material on a trip to Joann's in their knit/dance wear section:

The dress was not difficult to sew up, the directions are clear and to the point.  I will say however, to make sure you mark the left and right sides so as not to confuse them:

As you would imagine the dress is very comfortable and easy to wear. It has actually turned into one of my 'go to' dresses when I want something cute and quick to put on:

Well that is it for now and as always, one stitch at a time............................................

The Water Melon Dress M6554

Nothing like your favorite fruit for the summer, mine is watermelon. Easy and enjoyable to eat, it looks cool and inviting, especially cut up in squares in a cute bowl:

The same adjectives can be used for McCalls 6554 pattern, simple, easy, enjoyable to make.

McCalls 6554

I think a good marriage of material and pattern was achieved this time around:

M6554

Because of the sheerness of the material I decided to underline the fabric with a simple red posh lining from Joann's

Dress is feels light and very comfortable to wear, with the center pleat giving it a flirty feel.

Although the pattern calls for an invisible zipper I decided on a center zipper due to the unusual light/sheer fabric that I used:

Zipper application

I didn't realize that I forgotten the hook and eye for the top of the dress until I took this pic hahaha oops:

back view

I also lined the bodice and under stitch the lining for a smooth finish:

lining and under stitching process

I found these cool earring at Target and thought they would complement the dress well, what do you think?:

side views

Nothing else special to report about the dress, I will say it is very easy to sew and a beginner could make the pattern. However, pay close attention as to how they tell you to hem the skirt, I had to blink and read it twice.

As always, I have included my goofy out takes:

Thanks for taking the time out to share in my experience, hope the see you here again soon.  Until then remember, one stitch at at time..................

Round Two Vogue 8633

Several years ago during my A line/Retro dress phase, I made the left version of Vogue 8633 in a linen material. Flash forward to the present, I found myself drawn to the pattern again. This time I would use the sheath version to the right.

With this updated version came several construction changes made to the collar. In the original version I followed the instructions below:

 and the result was:

Notice the well shaped edge of the outside collar and the darts in the inside lining.

However, remembering my love/hate relationship with the above process, I decided the side step making the darts in the lining this time around. 

Here's how:

After following the instructions, I used this fabric piece shown above, to cut out the lining piece. With the darts already sewn, it would give the lining fabric the same size and silhouette as the bodice material, without the need to sew the inner darts:

Also notice that the outside collar has a softer shape due to my eliminating the collar facings. I thought it was best to leave them out being that I wanted this dress to be more relaxed. Here are my finshed results below:

Front

Side

I really do enjoy both versions of the pattern. I should also note, unlike the full skirt dress, I eliminated the zipper making this a simple pull over dress. Iron, slide on, and go.

Well that's it, until next time remember nothing is ever as it seams.

The Wrong Fold B5871

If you are new to sewing See & Sew from Butterick is a good starting point to learn the bascis of sewing.

Being an experienced sewer these patterns are normally a quick stress free sewing project.

I decided to make view A:

The pattern comes with 4 main pieces simple enough right? Well it would have been if I had followed the recommended fabric layout view:

Instead I did a traditional crosswise fold to the fabric and began cutting out the back pieces. This mistake left too little fabric to cut out the skirt front piece:

I didn't want this to become what sewers call a wadder, so I cut the skirt back piece on the fold once more to use it in place of the front skirt piece.

Front and back skirt pieces

Sorry to say it caused me to lose the pretty gathers in the skirt, yet and still it would end up being a wearable dress :-)

Here are my results:

Once I put the dress together I noticed that accross the back had a slight gap between the shoulders. I decided to place two small darts to each side of the back:

                             

The dart could have been put in cleaner, however I simply wasn't concerned at the time. I was more focussed on the over all look of the dress, besides if you don't tell who will know? ;-)

In harmony with exposing my fabric cutting mistake, here are some of my picture out takes as well:

Pregnant?, full? And just plan goofy

So what mistakes have you made in your over confidence or lack of attention? Let me know in the comments below.

Better Then Advertised Vogue 8898

Have you ever sighed looking at a pattern because the photo of the dress didn't excite you? I call them 'passer's'.


 One such pattern for me was Vogue 8898:

However, one day while I was glancing over dress reviews on Pattern Review.com, I noticed a very cute dress. Clicking on the review, I was amused to learn its true identify, and I thought 'this is what I get for not looking closer at the line drawing below':

After reading the reviews I thought why not give it a try. I decided to use a pretty Fuchsia Rayon Lycra knit that I found at Joanna's on clearance for $3 a yard. I thoght 'If all else failed I can use the left over material to make a top'. 

Here are my results:

I must say I found that the pattern, style and fit made for a very comfortable wear, not to mention a flattering fit for my shape.

I will give a word of caution thou, the pattern runs large and I ended up sizing down two sizes. Outside of that the pattern is truely beginner friendly so much so I have no other insights to give.

For something that I passed over as a so-so pattern, I can happyly say this will go down as one of my favorites.

So what pattern have you passed over only to back track and take a second look?

Vogue 1250

I am at my laptop trying to think of a good introduction for my review of Vogue 1250:

Vogue 1250

I mean, what new insight could I bring to a dress that has been a fan favorite on Pattern Review for sometime?  

Could I talk about the simple yet flattering design, could I mention how few pieces are used, oh I know maybe how few alterations I needed to make in-order to get a good fit? 

Once thing is true, this is a very good dress if your are just starting with knit fabric, actually this is the first dress I made using a knit. Oh did I mention the fabric..... that's it Ill talk about the fabric.

Ah the fabric:

Reminds me of Ladybugs! :)

The fabric was a gift from my best friend who purchased it when we went shopping at Mood Fabrics during one of our NY trips.  

The first time I saw it, I caught my self saying OOH out loud, then I vaguely heard myself mumbling softly, 'wow, nice, wonderful, pretty,' as I petted the material affectionately.

Seeing how beautiful I thought the fabric was, and it being a gift from my BFF, I was paranoid not to make a mistake.  I needed and wanted something goof proof LOL.  That's when I decided to turn what you see above into:

DKNY's V1250

As it has been stated in other PR review's, the dress is very flattering to most body types:

So that's it, my first love affair with a knit fabric, a review I should have done sooner, none the less my secret is out now.

shhh, between you and me, me like :)

Keeping myself together one stitch at a time..........

Buttrick 6018

I finally fished it!  If you read my blog regularly you will know I spoke about procrastination and how hard it was for me to push through and make this particular dress.  However I wanted to wear it for a special event this past weekend and decided to give myself one last push.  This was the result:

Butterick 6018

Over all I do like the dress, the main thing that drew me to it where the collar and sleeves:

If you notice my sleeve does not stand as up right as the photo, I think this is due to not using a stiff enough interfacing for the cuffs.  Although I did use the interfacing recommended,  I had to tack the sleeves in place so that they would not droop downward as I moved my arms:

Here is a view of the side:

From the side,  you will see the pattern is design so that the front waist sits higher then the back. giving the look of an empire waist in front yet a mid waist dress from behind. 

Had I notice this feature I would have been a little more hesitant to make it, seeing this look does not necessarily flatter my particular body shape. Don't get me wrong I will continue to wear it ;-)

I also I noticed it shows the difference in weight by a little as 5 lbs.  Losing just that much weight caused the dress to look unfitted on my frame. See below:

 5 lbs before

and

after the 5lbs loss

My overall impression of Butterick 6018 is:

1.  Easy sew for Intermediate sewers, if you are an Advanced Beginner just take your time and follow the steps you should be fine.

2.  If your waist is your tricky spot I would make a muslin first to see any adjustments you may have to make.

3.  Use a coat weight interfacing for the sleeves, or interface all 8 of the cuff pieces with dress weight interfacing (instead of just 4) to give the sleeves a stiffer appearance.

4.  Think of adding side ties if you find it hard to get the waist just right.

TADA!

So let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for the sleeves and or waist put them in the comment section below.