I’m honestly very pleased with the outcome of this dress, but there are some things I was frustrated with while making it.

Finished in time to wear on a 60 degree day in Seattle

Front of dress (Cassie is posing for the camera too)

Since I had so many layers (two layers of fabric due to the poplin underlining), I probably would have used a lighter-weight interfacing instead of the medium-weight interfacing one would normally use for shirts and dresses like this. I did fix the sleeve as I had mentioned in a previous post, and just to note, there’s no underlining in the sleeve.  It’s nice to see that the underlining isn’t terribly noticeable from this distance, but you can see it moreso when you’re up-close.

Close-up of the lapel collar

I had the hardest time with this collar. It drove me nuts! Fortunately, I was able to find a tutorial that helped tremendously when it came time to attaching the collar to the shirt lapel. I’m VERY happy with how that turned out, even if I did have to walk away from it for a day.

Back side of dress

I should have taken some extra time to make a muslin of the shirt portion, and then adjusted for the bagginess you can see in the back here. I don’t know how noticeable the bagginess is when I wear it, though.

Pockets!

This is probably one of my favorite features of this dress: pockets! I made it from the poplin, so I wouldn’t have holes in my pockets.

Pattern Description:

MISSES’/MISS PETITE DRESS IN TWO LENGTHS AND BIAS SASH: Dress in two lengths with sleeve and contrast variations has side seam pockets

Pattern Sizing:

I used size 12 for the dress I made.

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

Pretty much. Wasn’t nearly as long as I thought it would be, but it turns out that I need to add a couple inches to dresses to make it look as long on me as it does on the models, so no worries.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Mostly. Attaching the lapel collar was the biggest pain point. Fortunately I found a tutorial to help me accomplish that task.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

The fit and cut of the dress is flattering on me (I hope!) The sleeves are sweet, and any dress with pockets gets a bonus in my book!

Fabric Used:

Blue eyelet from MoodFabrics.com (that I bought the last 2.75 yards of until they restock), and some “peach sand” poplin from DenverFabrics.com for the underlining.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I used poplin as an underlining under the eyelet for modesty’s sake. That was about the only change I made.

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

Absolutely! Definitely with a single layer of a cute cotton print next time, though. I’ve done enough underlining for one sewing project.

Conclusion: 

If you can make a shirt, you can make this dress. If you run into problems with the collar, follow the tutorial I linked in my review to get past that point. It’s a pretty solid dress! I love it a lot!