Simplicity sundress mark two

Way back in 2013 I made myself a strappy sundress using Simplicity 2176. During its short life it was a great success, it was made with lovely fabric and had a cool vintage vibe. Sadly it came a cropper in the washing machine when the blue dye from the main dress seeped into the white bodice band, leaving it an unsightly shade of dishwater grey. I know, I know, I probably could have saved it by unpicking the bodice band and adding a new one, but as we all know I'm totally lazy and that was never going to happen. The dress was donated to charity and I was left one sundress short in my summer wardrobe. This year, I finally got round to sewing a replacement.

I did a bit of tinkering with the bodice for this second version. The fit on the bust on my original dress was always quite tight, which made the waistline ride up as a consequence. This time I added a one inch full bust adjustment (FBA) and lengthened the bodice by 5/8". I also added a little extra to the side seams as I find very tight waists unbearable in hot weather. Overall I think the fit on the bodice is much better - it's not actually that noticeable but I feel the benefit!

Original on left, new version on right

The skirt is from New Look 6557, the same one I used for my Fireworks dress. I love this shape of skirt (a quarter circle) in the hot weather as it's cool and airy without being too big. The only other change I made was to substitute the lapped zip for an invisible one and attach the inside bodice band to the zip by machine for a neat finish. 

The duck egg blue fabric is a lovely lightweight floral lawn that I leapt on when Freya was de-stashing at a recent meet up. There was 2m to play with, which was just enough for this dress, thanks Freya! The colour is slightly brighter in real life, more like the photo below.

Spot the felt tip marks that still need to be washed out!

Because the fabric is very light I underlined the bodice sections and cut a separate skirt lining with white silk cotton. I probably should have added a full lining to the bodice instead of underlining it as this would have concealed the notched princess seams. I also added strips of interfacing either side of the invisible zip for extra support and stay tape across the top of the bodice to prevent it stretching.

Without really intending to I seem to have put quite a lot of effort into making this dress! The irony is that there hasn't been a truly hot day in London since I finished it, so it hasn't actually been worn yet. It does look good with a cardigan though! x

Simplicity sundress

I'm really thrilled to share my newest creation with you today as it's my first project for the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network. 

When the UK finally started enjoying some proper sunshine this year, I realised there was a sundress-shaped gap in my wardrobe. By sundress, I mean something light with straps to keep you cool in the boiling sun. I have one dress of that description - my Colette Patterns Parfait - which is a fabulous workhorse of a dress, but I fancied a change in style. I'd pinned this lovely fifties vintage dress to Pinterest as inspiration and although I knew I didn't want the skirt on mine to be as full, I really wanted to recreate the neat, fitted bodice and contrast white bodice band. 

To do this I chose Simplicity 2176, which as sundress patterns go, is about as traditional as they come. It has a lovely, princess seamed bodice, a pleated skirt and endless strap combinations. As I outlined in this post, I'm not a natural wearer of pleats and thought long and hard about whether to include them or not. In the end I decided to just go for it and embrace the old fashioned look of the pattern.

As it's a warm weather dress, I chose a linen-look cotton in Royal Blue from Minerva Crafts. This fabric is fab: it's 100% cotton, drapes beautifully and has the look and feel of linen without all the tiresome creases. I underlined it to make it a bit more opaque using white silk cotton, and used white piqué fabric for the outer bodice band, both from my stash. I love the contrast of colours, they just look so fresh together.

There were no nasty surprises lurking in the instruction sheet and it all came together without incident - a lovely, easy make. Accustomed as I am to Simplicity patterns having way too much ease in them. I cut a size 12. Annoyingly, this pattern seems to be pretty true to its measurements and the bodice ended up a bit tight. Grrr! I reduced the side seam allowances which makes it a lot more comfortable to wear, but the bodice rides a bit higher than my natural waist because my boobs take up too much space! It's my own fault for being so lazy in the first place and not making a muslin - next time I'll definitely need to do a FBA! It's totally wearable as it is though and although I'm still getting used to the look of the pleats I do like them.  

Because of the pleats and neat bodice, this dress feels very ladylike - I should be wearing it with proper heels and gloves. In real life, I'll probably wear it with flip flops or wedges. Anyway, mission accomplished and I now have a sundress to add to my summer wardrobe.

If you fancy making your own sundress, Minerva Crafts have put together a great kit which you can purchase here. The kit comprises a copy of Simplicity 2176, two metres of Royal Blue linen-look cotton, matching thread and a 14 inch dress zip. Happy sewing! 

The kit was given to me free of charge as part of the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network. All views my own.