I had been wanting to make myself a green dress for a long time and I wanted to get it right. My biggest downfall when it comes to sewing, is my impatience. I rush to find a pattern, grab whichever fabric takes my fancy at the time and try to knock out a garment in day or two. More often than not, I don’t think through my fabric choices, don’t really pay much attention to the pattern, and don’t take my time to get the right fit. This time I wanted things to be different. I carefully chose my pattern and I didn’t actually find the right fabrics until several months later. I took my time with cutting and piecing the thing together. This dress actually works up pretty fast so it didn’t take too long to make but because I chose the right fabrics and because I took time to make it fit properly, I really love it.
There were certainly some ever-so slightly tricky parts to this but on the whole it is very simple, and I am by no means an expert seamstress.
The pattern I used is Burda 7951. The green fabric is from Joanns and the print is a voile by Anna Maria Horner. I lined it in pale blue also from Joanns.
There are lots of things I love about this dress. Firstly, the piping around the neckline. I made the piping myself, using the Anna Maria Horner voile and I love the contrast against the green around the neck.
I also love the pale blue lining and the capped sleeves. The pattern has a sleeveless option that I was tempted to go for but I’m pleased I decided to put in sleeves. I will certainly make this dress again and maybe next time omit the sleeves, for variety.
The invisible zipper was a bit annoying and I ended up ripping out my stitching a couple of times and redoing it, in the end finishing it off by hand. I found this tutorial helpful when it came to putting in the zipper. I think mine was extra tricky because my fabric was so thin and wafty.
So my lesson is learned. When I take time to do things properly, there’s a good chance I will succeed. I hope I can remember that.
