TL; DR – I’m too old to wear shorter dresses. Thankfully, a longer option exists! I love testing for Forest and Thread. I don’t know what it is about her patterns, but I always end up pushing myself to do the cleanest finishes and focus on detail. So I jumped at the chance to do…
Tag: Dress
Mary Quant Mini Dress, Take 8
TL; DR – I love this pattern and it’s versatility. Another day, another Marimekko shower curtain, this time one that I got from our local buy-nothing group. This was particularly challenging because it had some bleach stains at the bottom. The pattern, however, lends itself nicely to be able to cut the back in two…
Rowan Dress, Take 2
TL; DR – Much simpler when you don’t line it! I made a Rowan Dress SOOOOOO long ago. It was one of the early dresses where oh, wait, I have to figure out how to line something and do a hidden zipper? OOPS. I started teaching undergrads again, and I, of course, needed a new…
Pattern Review: Judy Dress by Notch.
TL; DR – Fabric matters, also make sure you have big enough pieces. From my local buy-nothing group, I got these large(ish) pieces of fabric that were used as table clothes at a wedding. They were grey with white polka-dots, grey and white stripes, and navy checkered. They are 100% cotton, but of the heavier…
Tie Dress, Take 3
TL; DR – I’m in my summer caftan phase apparently. You know when you find a fabric online and you buy a quantity, but it shows up not as one continuous piece, but instead the yardage is made up of smaller cuts? You know how you planned a dress with that fabric but now it…
Aida Dress, Take 4
TL;DR – My god I love this pattern. Can you believe this was a shower curtain? I had to make the back out of two pieces instead of on the fold, and the fabric is a bit more stiff which made the sheering a bit more complicated, but even then, BEHOLD! I love this dress…
Pattern Review: Box Pleat Dress by The Assembly Line
TL; DR – I’m still trying to figure out if oversized is my style. BUT, pattern is super-straightforward. Oh, The Assembly Line, how I love your patterns. Simple, but always with one feature that makes it unique and interesting. I decided to make a Box-Pleat Dress out of this stretch woven fabric I got when…
Abingdon Dress, Take 2
TL;DR – Still a great pattern, not sure about the final result in this case? I’m a sucker for the gingham trend. I don’t know why, but I’m in a yellow mood right now. Found this sweet, yellow gingham and thought it would make a cute Abingdon dress. And it did! Except I’m not sure…
Léonie Dress, Take Three
TL; DR – POCKETS! More fun with DVF x Target. This was a duvet cover (the other side is leopard print that I literally have no idea what to do with), and I wanted a pattern that really focused on this lovely print. So I made a Léonie dress. LOOK AT IT! I LOVE IT…
Tie Dress, Take 2
TL; DR – Sometimes you have to repurpose a garment into another one. It’s (still) #memademay, and I tried on a dress that I had made and decided I didn’t like it anymore. But, I still loved the fabric. I had a little bit left over, and so I decided to make a Tie Dress!…
Mary Quant Mini-Dress, Take 7
TL; DR – Is there anything this dress can’t do? I am still desperately trying to use a bunch of my knit prints, and really, there’s no reason why some of my favorite woven patterns couldn’t be used for these relatively not-stretchy knit prints I have been collecting. So, this groovy print just screamed Mary…
Pattern Review: Tie Dress from Sewing Therapy
TL; DR – A lined bodice doesn’t have to be hard. I had the pleasure of testing the Tie Dress from Sewing Therapy that just launched today! It is a straightforward sew, ideal for lighter fabrics. It can tie either on the sides or front/back, and it can be worn (like I am) with the…
Pattern Review: Penny Dress from Lore Piar
TL; DR – I’m starting to really dig a variety of shift dresses! I got to test the Lore Piar Penny Dress, and I wasn’t disappointed! Wait, you might be saying if you clicked on the link and noticed there is a wrap option for this dress/top, aren’t you all about the wrap? You are…
Pattern Review: Estelle Dress from Sew Over It
TL; DR – FREAKING KNIT FABRIC. I had this dress that I called my Joan dress, as in Joan from Mad Men. It was figure-hugging and a deep shade of green. I stopped fitting me, so I let it go, but I haven’t let the idea of that dress go. I have been trying to…
Pattern Review: Parker Dress by Styla Patterns
TL; DR – Gathering self jersey can be a real pain. I am a Styla Pattern tester, and in my quest to sew through some of my knit fabrics, I jumped at the chance to sew up a Parker dress. I lengthened the bodice because I look…weird when the line hits me just below my…
Free Pattern Review/Hack: Cowl Neck Dress by Burda
TL; DR – I feel like I’m leveling up! So this expensive and not size-inclusive top keeps algorithmically taunting me. I had a lovely burgundy ponte, the Cowl Neck dress from burda patterns (which, questionable legality on me downloading it, but mostly the patterns shared on the site are/were free at one point), and the…
Pattern Review: Abingdon Dress by Styla Patterns
TL; DR – Shirring is still easy and yet also hard, as well as working with silky fabric. I was so happy to get to test the Abingdon Dress by Style Patterns. It’s a super-simple dress with shirring at the waist and sleeve cuffs. I made the maxi version (although it has different lengths) with…
Pattern Review: Alma Jean Dress and Blouse by Artifact Patterns
TL; DR – Don’t I look like a party? A+, no notes. I jumped at the chance to test this lovely dress pattern, Alma Jean by Artifact Patterns, when it came across my instagram feed (oh hey, I have a dedicated sewing insta account now – give it a follow!). It was the perfect dress…
Aida Dress, Take 3
TL; DR – Interfacing is still hard. I got this floral knit on sale from Girl Charlee (an amazing place for knit fabric) mid-summer, but when it showed up it was a little heavy for summer weight. So, I made a transitional Aida dress out of it. The one complaint about the first Aida knit…
Pattern Review: Autumn Dress by Style Arc
TL; DR – DO NOT DO THIS PATTERN IF YOU ARE A BEGINNER. ALSO, LINEN SHEETS ARE ROUGH TO SEW WITH. My mom asked me a while ago to find a pattern and make her a dress that looks like this: So I asked in the The Foldline Facebook group, and was recommended to find…
Pattern Review: Vera Dress by Ploen Patterns
TL; DR – Pattern testing is fun! Sometimes you need a bottom ruffle Another pattern I tested: the new extended sizes for the Vera dress and top from Ploen Patterns. I really love testing patterns when the pattern designer is working to extend the size-range because I want to support these efforts. I made the…
Pattern Review: The Asteria Dress from Jennifer Lauren Handmade
TL; DR – This is a lot of dress, but what a lovely pattern it is! I’ve been sitting on this one for a while. I was a tester for the new extended size range for the Asteria Dress from Jennifer Lauren Handmade. I have to say that I was really excited to test this…
Garment 100-ish: Aida Dress, Take 2
TL; DR – This pattern works well with stable knits, I’ve lost count of how many garments I’ve made, Mood Fabrics in NYC is EVERYTHING. A few weeks ago, I got to go to New York City for work. And I was within reasonable walking distance to Mood Fabrics. So of COURSE I had to…
Free Pattern Review: Aida from La Maison Victor
TL; DR – Woo for v-necks that actually cover things up, don’t get complacent about shirring. I got this African wax print (which isn’t actually African, it’s Dutch, because colonialism – learn all about it) a while ago and have been waiting for the right pattern to use it, and settled on Aida from La…
Free Pattern Review: Crisa from La Maison Victor
TL; DR – Either I don’t understand French as well as I thought I did or I still can’t read sewing illustrations all that well. Probably both. I was browsing through my collected list of free sewing pattern resources and noticed that suddenly, there were a lot of patterns by La Maison Victor that were…
Léonie Dress, Take 2
TL; DR – I love this pattern. It’s another make from a Marimekko shower curtain! I made this one shorter than the first Léonie dress I made, and instead of making the back out of just one piece, I made it out of two pieces to take into consideration the dimensions of the shower curtain….
Mary Quant Mini-Dress, Take 6, for #sewfrugal23
TL; DR – This works fantastic with a stable knit, maybe reprinting it in a larger size isn’t so bad after all Last year I made 10 dresses in the month of March for #sewfrugal22. This year, I barely made one. Two, I guess, if you count adding fabric strips to last year’s Mary Quant…
Pattern Review: Akinori Dress from Wardrobe By Me
TL; DR – I might be getting the hang of this sewing thing, and doesn’t this dress look AMAZING?!?!? I have followed Katie Kortman on Instagram for a while now, and have always loved her colorful patterns and fabrics. As Fabric.com was being subsumed by Amazon (which, UGH, but also I don’t get those FLASH…
Pattern Review: Heart and Soul Dress from Ellie and Mac
TL; DR – Stretch velvet is pain to sew, why does my size keep changing? This was my last make of 2022. And while that was six weeks ago, I’m back-dating this post so that history knows when I actually made this dress instead of when I finally got around to writing about it. I…
Pattern Review: Léonie Dress from Liam Patterns
TL; DR – I needed a lot of Dopamine Dressing, why can’t I remember that seam allowances matter, and finally learn TO REINFORCE THE NECKLINE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. I had long admired the fabric by Julia Allisson Cost, and I got a gift card to buy some for my birthday. I settled on…
Pattern Review: Staycation Dress from Ellie and Mac Patterns
TL; DR – It’s…fine. When I was in my OMG I DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING ORANGE phase I picked up this jersey fabric. I wanted to make a tiered dress out of it, and while I wanted to make the free Laurel dress from Styla Patterns, it turned out the bodice was lined and I…
Free Pattern Review: Jersey Days Dress from Love Sewing
TL; DR – Shirring isn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. Use stay tape. Orange was, like, *the* color this summer, and in true ADHD fashion, when I realized I didn’t have any orange, I went nuts and bought a ton of orange fabric (see, for example, ORANGE MOD DRESS), including…
Mary Quant Mini-Dress, Take 5
TL; DR – You’d think after four times making the same dress, I’d know what I was doing, but you would be wrong. Anyway, I improvised and it turned out just fine. Also, I finally understand the physics of the burrito method. My kids’ summer swim team’s colors are orange and blue. I bought bright…
Mal Dress, Take 2
TL; DR – It’s shockingly hard to cut straight lines on a grid fabric. Look, what can I tell you, when big floofy-poofy dresses fall out of fashion, I don’t know what I’m going to do with these Mal Dresses I’m making, but I’ll have LARGE rectangles of fabric to work with. Gingham is also…
Pattern Review: Tie Dress from The Maker’s Atelier
TL; DR – LOL I do not look good in the oversized style. I’ve wanted to make a (sigh) pussy bow dress or blouse for a while now, and I’ve long wanted to make something from The Maker’s Atelier. I found this GORGEOUS Liberty viscose fabric on sale, and it was a match made in…
Free Pattern Review: Emma by Tiana’s Closet
TL; DR – Hey, pay attention to your measurements, wearable toiles are fantastic, and maybe I’m finally figuring out how to do a V detail. This isn’t my first make from Tiana’s Closet; I point you to A Giant Comedy of Errors. It wasn’t a fair review, because I didn’t take accurate measurements. Or rather,…
Free Pattern Review: Portia Party Dress by Rebecca Page
TL; DR – I still need to work on V-necks, I should just bite the bullet and learn how to use my serger. This was supposed to be Entry 11 for the #sewfrugal22 challenge, but alas, the last week of March was absolutely awful and I ran out of time. I had been trying to…
Free Pattern Review: M7969 for #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – I finally understand the importance of stay-stitching the neckline. Minerva was giving you a digital copy of McCall’s M7969 if you signed up for their newsletter. I really liked the faux-wrap front and the V neckline. I had this gorgeous Liberty print that I thought would make a lovely dress. Folks, I…
Free Pattern Review: Mal Dress from Mood Fabrics for #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – I still don’t get sleeves. As soon as I saw this free pattern drop on the Mood Sewciety blog, I knew I had to make the dress, and I knew I was going to use this Nerida Hansen fabric. The Mal dress isn’t zero-waste, but it is minimal waste, which I would…
Free Pattern Review: Allium Dress from Mood Fabrics for #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – I still suck at setting sleeves, tiny rolled hems are HARD. I had a dress like this from Victoria Beckham for Target, and I’ve always wanted another one. The Allium Dress from Mood Fabrics is a dead ringer (other than having sleeves) for it (although I could have hacked a sleeveless version)….
Free Pattern Review: Pleated Summer Dress by In The Folds for Peppermint Magazine #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – LOOK AT ALL THE FLOWERS, still not sure how much ease is the right amount of ease, pleats are fun. EVER MOAR MARIMEKKO! These are the iconic flowers, cut from a king-sized flat sheet. I’ve often waffled back and forth about the (deep breath) Pleated Summer dress by In The Folds for…
Free Pattern Review: Donna from Fabrics Store for #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – ARGH, freaking trying to get an elastic through is always harder than you think it should be. Man, I’m sewing up a storm! This is more Marimekko shower curtain, and I was tired of making Mary Quant Mini-Dresses. So I decided to make this lovely and simple Donna dress, free from The…
Mary Quant Mini-Dress, Take 4 for #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – MOAR MARIMEKKO SHOWER CURTAIN. I figured out sleeves. I bought a Marimekko shower curtain on super-sale from Belk (which will only resonate with people living in the South). OK, I bought multiple Marimekko shower curtains and bedding on super-sale from Belk, but for this post, it’s the black circle pattern one I…
Mary Quant Mini-Dress, Take 3, for #sewfrugal22
TL;DR – I hacked another pattern and I might never go back to the old way of sewing this dress. I’ve made the (free) Mary Quant mini-dress twice, with mixed results. It seems to do better with structured wovens, rather than more drapey ones. I also still can’t properly sew a zipper. And I was…
Free Pattern Review: Laundry Day Tee from Love Notions Patterns for #sewfrugal22
TL; DR – IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST PATTERN DO NO SELECT THE V-NECK OPTION, because other than that, this pattern is easy-peasy…as long as you don’t get cocky and anger the sewing deities, like I did. Y’all know I like a good IG challenge. Every March (apparently) the challenge is to make garments using…
Pattern Review: Georgie Pinafore from Jennifer Lauren Handmade
TL; DR – How is it I can do hidden zippers so easily but continually mess up regular zippers? I didn’t think I’d like a pinafore but here we are, and I am getting more confident and can make adjustments without completely ruining the garment. Full disclosure: I was gifted this pattern in order to…
Mary Quant Mini-Dress, Take 2, or How I Made a Dress Almost For Free
TL; DR – Even quilting cotton can make a great dress, don’t get cocky and read the damn directions. There are lots of places to get fabric. Your local fabric store. Internet fabric shops. Facebook destash groups (OH GOD BE SO CAREFUL). Goodwill (they are usually curtains, but yards of fabric for cheap are yards…
Pattern Review: Easy-As-Tie Dress from Sew News
TL; DR – I am a massive sucker for Instagram social sewing challenges, easy patterns are fun. I get sewing challenges almost weekly from The Foldline blog. And I want to do. Every. Single. One. So I did this dress on impulse for #sewtogetherforsummer, where I had to make a summer dress, which means, basically,…
Free Pattern Review: Rowan Dress from Mood Fabrics
TL; DR – Polyester lining is a pain, the tools you use matter, fun fabrics are fun. Ever since I saw the Rowan Dress on Mood Fabrics, I knew I had to make it. And because of my ADHD, I have trouble seeing a dress in any other form than the one presented to me…
Free Pattern Review: Mary Quant Mini-Dress from Alice & Co.
TL; DR – Practice does make you better, read the instructions before cutting your fabric so you don’t waste fabric, cut fabric when the mood strikes you as it makes it easier to sew later (sometimes much later). This Mary Quant mini-dress comes courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum in the U.K. and Alice…
Pattern Review: Hannah Dress from Victory Patterns
TL; DR – A well-drafted pattern with well-written instructions is worth it’s weight in gold, there’s nothing more frustrating than pattern companies that aren’t size inclusive, why can’t I learn to follow the fabric recommendations, I really enjoy challenging myself. When I found the drapey knit dress, I became obsessed with finding dresses with the…
Free Pattern Review: Drapey Knit Dress from Sew Magazine
TL; DR – Transfer each and every pattern marking onto the fabric, the fabric you choose matters, and pay attention to your finishes, even if you are tired and frustrated and just want to be done with it. The Drapey Knit Dress turned up in many of my “best free dress patterns” searches, and I…
Free Pattern Review: Copen Dress by Made to Sew
TL; DR – Great free beginner pattern but not very size-inclusive, neck facing is a pain in the ass, it’s easier to fix too big than too small, and make sure you have a stretch needle – beware, those fuckers can pierce your thumbnail, which will cause the needle to snap in half. What’s the…
The Geneva, Pt. 1, 2, and 3
TL; DR: Learn your machine, pay attention to seam allowances, stretch fabric can be a pain, band neckline finishes are amazing, and don’t throw out “scrap” fabric when you’re mad. My favorite dress is the Geneva Dress, by Universal Standard. A friend who sews drafted a pattern for it for me. I bought my first…
