While the pattern itself works up very easily and all the marking match up, the dress did not end up looking anything at all like the picture. I made the under-dress with the sweetheart tunic. The under-dress has a VERY pegged skirt shape and a walking slit up the back, which I did not like. I changed it to a straight skirt. That worked out just fine, but the little bodice it attaches to the dress came out too short. If you follow the illustration and place the sash just above your waist line, you will end up with quite a bit of bulk from the under-dress under the sash. I ended up taking the bodice off the skirt, and putting it onto a wide waistband to reduce the amount of fabric under the sash. I also took the darts out and gathered the bodice to fit, as this looked better over a corset. I think anyone with a small bust will need to make some pretty significant adjustments to the darts in the bodice, they are quite deep.
The over-tunic was simply a disaster. It turned out looking like a large t-shirt, and not like the illustration at all. I ended up having just enough fabric left to cut the bottom of the tunic off, make a new front to add length, and add a panel to the back for some width. I would highly recommend doing a muslin of the over-tunic, and cutting the thing out in the largest size. Unless the wearer is very petite, it requires a good deal of alteration to look anything like the picture.
Were I do this dress again, I would redraft the whole pattern. The end result turned out ok because I reworked it, not because of the pattern. The design I ended up with is very flattering.
Rated 4 out of 5
Tara Strand –
I took this pattern on as a challenge to myself since I’m not the most experienced of seamstresses and I hadn’t tried to sew a full outfit in ages, so I wanted to see if I could pull it off.
The underdress was easier to make than I expected, although I ended up working out a curved shape for the darting in the bodice so it would fit nicely without the points you usually end up with with that kind of darting. I also narrowed down the upper part of the skirt section so it didn’t billow as oddly (especially since I chose not to make it on the bias). The bodice did end up being pretty easy to spill out of if you bend over far enough, but upright the overall silhouette of the dress was nice.
I also made the sweetheart tunic which was my first attempt at making anything on the bias, but the package came with a great info pamphlet on sewing on the bias and I found the pattern to be infinitely forgiving and to fit very nicely.
The belt and bow were also very simple to make for the look, but with me being 5′-0″ the length of the bow was WAAAY more than necessary (even coming up several inches short of the recommended length), but I ended up wearing it at the back which was pretty and served as a nice train.
All put together the silhouette was beautiful and very period, and I got lots of compliments even before I told people I made it myself!
Heidi Schultz –
While the pattern itself works up very easily and all the marking match up, the dress did not end up looking anything at all like the picture. I made the under-dress with the sweetheart tunic. The under-dress has a VERY pegged skirt shape and a walking slit up the back, which I did not like. I changed it to a straight skirt. That worked out just fine, but the little bodice it attaches to the dress came out too short. If you follow the illustration and place the sash just above your waist line, you will end up with quite a bit of bulk from the under-dress under the sash. I ended up taking the bodice off the skirt, and putting it onto a wide waistband to reduce the amount of fabric under the sash. I also took the darts out and gathered the bodice to fit, as this looked better over a corset. I think anyone with a small bust will need to make some pretty significant adjustments to the darts in the bodice, they are quite deep.
The over-tunic was simply a disaster. It turned out looking like a large t-shirt, and not like the illustration at all. I ended up having just enough fabric left to cut the bottom of the tunic off, make a new front to add length, and add a panel to the back for some width. I would highly recommend doing a muslin of the over-tunic, and cutting the thing out in the largest size. Unless the wearer is very petite, it requires a good deal of alteration to look anything like the picture.
Were I do this dress again, I would redraft the whole pattern. The end result turned out ok because I reworked it, not because of the pattern. The design I ended up with is very flattering.
Tara Strand –
I took this pattern on as a challenge to myself since I’m not the most experienced of seamstresses and I hadn’t tried to sew a full outfit in ages, so I wanted to see if I could pull it off.
The underdress was easier to make than I expected, although I ended up working out a curved shape for the darting in the bodice so it would fit nicely without the points you usually end up with with that kind of darting. I also narrowed down the upper part of the skirt section so it didn’t billow as oddly (especially since I chose not to make it on the bias). The bodice did end up being pretty easy to spill out of if you bend over far enough, but upright the overall silhouette of the dress was nice.
I also made the sweetheart tunic which was my first attempt at making anything on the bias, but the package came with a great info pamphlet on sewing on the bias and I found the pattern to be infinitely forgiving and to fit very nicely.
The belt and bow were also very simple to make for the look, but with me being 5′-0″ the length of the bow was WAAAY more than necessary (even coming up several inches short of the recommended length), but I ended up wearing it at the back which was pretty and served as a nice train.
All put together the silhouette was beautiful and very period, and I got lots of compliments even before I told people I made it myself!