New Look pattern #6447
First dress pattern ever! Not bad for a first go. I’ll be spending this winter sewing dresses and apparel for Spring 2019. I’m a novice and have no real professional training on how to sew. As a hobby, I have been sewing off and on since I was little.
Overall creating this dress took about 10 hours. It was my first time using a purchased pattern and my first time adjusting to my own measurements so I’m guessing that I added about an additional 2-3 hours for mistakes, machine jams, and learning curve. Time will tell if that was excessive I guess. I chose this NewLook dress pattern for it’s seemingly simple construction combining 3 main parts: bodice, midriff, and skirt.
I chose this sweet ‘Meadow Flowers’ apparel fabric from Hobby Lobby. It seemed a great choice to utilize the simply stated, dittsy floral to compliment the classic, feminine dress pattern. The print is very forgiving for a vertical reaching pattern as it flows with natural, soft curved lines of leaves and stems. Unlike rigid, vertical stripes which would have given away the adjustments I made altering away from the initial fabric cuts. The color is spot on perfect which I really appreciate as I myself am a fabric print designer and color is extremely important to me. It is sweet, innocent, and a fresh take on a classic floral. Very New England Country. Perfect for spring in my coastal New England town.
This biggest adjustment I needed to make was in the bodice back. It had a large gap between the fabric and the curve of my back. Even after cutting away a few inches from the back straps you can still see a loose wrinkle in the first picture. I also had to adjust the darts in the bodice as it was designed for a 36 B cup and I’m .. well I’m a 32 D. I was able to foresee this problem early enough and I adjusted easily by just not extending the darts as far as the pattern suggested. I cut them short by about 1/3 of the suggested length. Bingo! Plenty more room without adding to the waistline.
I have to admit, despite the fact that I had little experience with following a pattern, I was blow away with how easy it was to make this flattering dress. Although I skipped the lining and used a regular zipper (instead of the invisible one), I followed the rest of the directions with little to no roadblocks. I went on to create the dress again using a different skirt and fabric option. I’ll share that next!
Sew & Pattern 