Not too long ago, I saw a photo of my friend Rachel (aka Bobinette) in the cutest summertime dress. I assumed that she had made it (and was right) and had to make one for myself! I love wearing a sleeveless, comfortable, cotton dress in summer. Especially when I'm just hanging out at a barbecue (which happens quite often at my house).
This dress was pretty easy to make and the pattern (Simplicity 2801 View D) was relatively straight-forward (those of us who sew from patterns know that they are never completely straight-forward!) I did the majority of it in one night and then finished it up the next morning in time to wear for a BBQ that afternoon.
I could have made this dress one whole size smaller, so it is a little sack-like on me. However, it
is extra comfortable with all that wiggle room! So comfy, that I don't think I'll take it in! There was one part of the pattern instructions that I did not like. The directions tell you to make the front band/facing (along the collar line) of the dress very early on, but to not to the back facing until the very end. I think they did this to account for hiding the zipper, but I found it very confusing and difficult to get the facings to line up correclty. If I were to do it again, I would do all of the top facing at the beginning and leave the ends open to sew after the zipper. If you decide to make this dress, you may want to study the pattern and decide for yourself how to approach it. I also had a little bit of trouble attaching the sleeve facings. I couldn't get them to line up with the armhole (surprise, surprise!) and with a little assistance, I learned my error was not leaving the bottom (pointy part) of the armhole undone a little so the facing could be eased in.
I wish I had a good picture of the front of this dress on a person, so you could get a better idea of what it looks like in total (the drawings on the front of the pattern package do not do it justice!) Perhaps Bobinette will post a picture of hers! ;)
Happy Summertime Sewing!
-Kricket
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2 comments:
Awwww! I am so happy that my dress inspired yours! And what a pretty print and color scheme for a breezy summer dress! I agree with your assessment of the pattern, Kricket. It was really easy to sew. I did not have any trouble lining up the facings, but I did have to tack them all down in order to prevent them from curling. This was a tedious activity, because I am not the strongest hand sewer.
My dress can be found on Flickr. You can also find it in our Awesome Sewage slideshow.
Cute dress from what I can see!
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