One of the things on my (long) list of things I’d like to be able to do, is sewing my own clothes. Now, I don’t have the time nor the patience to look through intricate patterns, adjust sizes and things like that.
Or, to be honest, I tried that and failed miserably. Not my kind of sewing.
So I was on a quest for an easy dress pattern, that would tick all the boxes (comfortable, suitable to wear outside the house, preferably a little bit flattering) and that I could make over and over again. There are some nice patterns online, but I found most of them didn’t really have a defined waist shaping. I like to see my waist, while I still have it.
I had this store bought (well, thrifted) dress that I really liked. I can put it on over my head (no buttons or zippers!) and it had an elastic waist, that was simple but looked nice.
So I decided to copy that dress. Drew the outline on pattern paper and made the bodice (since the waist of this dress was too far up for me) and the skirt a bit longer (these dresses are meant to wear for my normal day-to-day happenings. I like not to worry about what’s showing when I bend over).
And then I just started cutting and sewing.
Much to my surprise, it actually worked.
I used the second option (baby hem) in this article about edge finishes to hem the armholes and the neck. Worked like a charm.
It’s a little bit too wide, because I tend to cut bigger seam allowances then I sew them. (Weird, I know.)
But it still fits nicely and I love wearing it.
So I did it again, this time paying a bit more attention to seam allowances.
I love these dresses. And yes, I will be making more soon.
But next, I’m going to try to do something similar to T.’s favorite shorts.