Hihi!

Playing catch up again on things which I have made and have been wearing but haven’t had time to blog, starting with this dress which I made to wear to the annual school PTA summer ball. This year Philip was forced agreed to come with me, and we both enjoyed it (yes, even Philip, lol). But anyway, you’re here for the dress, right? Let me tell you all about it, beginning with this beautiful fabric.

The fabric is a silky two-way stretch interlock in the shade wine from Fabworks. You can see the other colours on their website; there are currently 5 colour options to chose from. This is a stunning fabric which is absolutely perfect for evening wear, as it has a rich, opulent sheen to it, without looking tacky or cheap. I prewashed my fabric and it sewed (and pressed) with absolutely no problems. If you are thinking of making bridesmaid dresses, perhaps in one of those infinity styles, this fabric would be perfect! With the low price point you can afford to get more fabric to create really extravagant gowns with lots of draping, pleating and ruching. And it has amazing movement: look.

In terms of the patterns I used, I used Simplicity 8045 for the bodice (view B) and the skirt portion from McCalls 6713, which looks as if it is now OOP. I think they worked out well together and, for me, having the waist seam and the slightly less figure hugging skirt than included with Simplicity 8045 was more comfortable. There was some amount of jiggery-pokery involved to get the bodice and skirt to sit correctly, but I got there in the end. I left my hems raw. I initially tried hemming the sleeves and my twin needling just looked poor, so I chopped the hems off and left them, and the skirt hem, raw. I did stitch the front skirt slit open to secure the seam allowances in place.

I think the main thing you need to watch out for if you are making the bodice/ dress from Simplicity 8045 is that the collar (overlay) comes up very short and tight as drafted. So short and tight that every time you lift your arms up the collar is probably going to slide up over your shoulders. This is also going to happen if you have any kind of boobs going on. Fortunately, Hila from Saturday Night Stitch forewarned me about this, so I was able to make adjustments. I essentially added 4 inches to either edge of the collar to deepen it, and 1 inch to the centre front of the collar (2 inches total width added). This made the collar actually very comfortable and easy to wear. Full details below.

Pattern Review 

Pattern Description: 

Floor and knee length knit dresses with three quarter sleeves and off the shoulder draped neckline

Pattern Sizing:

10 – 28

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

The bodice part yes….but I used the skirt from OOP McCalls 6713, so it provided a waist seam and a less body con look.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I made this dress to wear to our annual school summer PTA ball. I loved the finished dress (once I had made some modifications). It was a ball tie event and it felt appropriate. I felt good wearing it. Nothing to dislike as such.

Fabric Used:

Silky two way stretch interlock from Fabworks.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

• The main thing you need to watch out for if you are making the bodice/ dress from Simplicity 8045 is that the collar (overlay) comes up very short and tight as drafted. So short and tight that every time you lift your arms up the collar is probably going to slide up over your shoulders. This is also going to happen if you have any kind of boobs going on. I essentially added 4 inches to either edge of the collar to deepen it, and 1 inch to the centre front of the collar (2 inches total width added). This made the collar actually very comfortable and easy to wear.
• I added 1 inch to the centre front of the bodice (cheats FBA).
• I cut the pattern off at the waist and added a seam allowance to facilitate adding the skirt from McCalls 6713.
• I could have done with narrowing the sleeves on the pattern.
• I left all my hems raw (my twin needling looked awful so I cut off what I had done on the sleeves, hence they are a little shorter than they should be).
• I had to shorten the elastic (approx. 3 inches?) over the shoulders for it to feel more secure.
• I did add a power mesh half lining to the skirt using the back skirt piece from view C/D but I have to say my power mesh needed more power, lol.
• I did have to fiddle around with the length/ fit of the bodice and skirt to get everything looking ok, but this was just fitting as I went. It worked out ok in the end.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I don’t know if I would need another dress like this in my wardrobe but I do recommend.

Conclusion: 

Demure and sexy all at the same time. I like it!

Leaving you with a picture of Philip and I dressed up. The ball was a royal wedding themed event and I felt like royalty, lol. Have fun everyone and see you soon!

Disclaimer: this fabric was gifted to me by Fabworks. All opinions are my own. Thanks for reading!