I made this vintage-style dress (with a princess-seamed bodice, exposed zip and slightly gathered skirt) out of an Anna Maria Horner hand drawn garden print. It's loud and in charge, yeah? I was worried the print was too big for my frame but now that's finished I am very happy with it.
For those of you who've been watching the Sewing Bee - - Patrick, eat your heart out with that pattern matching on the back! It was impossible to match the pattern at the sides without cutting off grain but I did as best I could with the bodice.
I watched a tutorial on Youtube about sewing princess seams and I looooved the end result, in a nutshell, you clip the larger curve within the seam allowance and put in a basting stitch for support BEFORE you sew the princess seam. It makes it way easier to get a nice flat seam.
Alterations: I shortened the bodice using the lines on the pattern, because for some reason the bodice is quite long on this pattern. Took 3" off the hem as I'm a midget. And I also cut a wedge out of the front armpit as I absolutely hate dresses that pinch your armpits. But I make that alteration on almost every garment.
Definitely going to make this dress again.... and again...
For those of you who've been watching the Sewing Bee - - Patrick, eat your heart out with that pattern matching on the back! It was impossible to match the pattern at the sides without cutting off grain but I did as best I could with the bodice.
I watched a tutorial on Youtube about sewing princess seams and I looooved the end result, in a nutshell, you clip the larger curve within the seam allowance and put in a basting stitch for support BEFORE you sew the princess seam. It makes it way easier to get a nice flat seam.
Alterations: I shortened the bodice using the lines on the pattern, because for some reason the bodice is quite long on this pattern. Took 3" off the hem as I'm a midget. And I also cut a wedge out of the front armpit as I absolutely hate dresses that pinch your armpits. But I make that alteration on almost every garment.
Definitely going to make this dress again.... and again...