July Garment of the Month

Pattern Review: Simplicity 1872

My mum had a retirement party this weekend and of course I had to make a dress to celebrate. I had been wanting to try out the dress from Simplicity 1872 for years and finally decided to take the plunge.

I have made this pattern as a peplum top before, but it was so old that it went to the charity shop earlier this year, so it's nice to have another iteration of the pattern in my wardrobe. Ok,so let's talk fabric. I picked this up at the textile district around the Sacre Couer on my holiday to Paris with my mum last September. It cost €10 for 3 metres which is a bargain. I am pretty sure that it is some kind of polyester chiffon. I underlined the dress with stretch lining from Simply Fabrics in Brixton priced at £1 per metre. 

I know that a couple of people have mentioned that there is a huge amount of ease in this pattern. It is true and I took out approximately 2" in the bodice and cut a larger armhole to compensate. This dress pattern swallows up fabric like no ones business which is why I had put it off for so long. I only just managed to get all of the pieces out and had to cut the bottom back skirt in two pieces and sew them together at the centre back. Luckily due to the busyness of the print it isn't really noticeable. I also read that this dress runs short and as I didn't have enough fabric to lengthen anything I inserted a panel underneath the yoke to ensure that it was long enough on me. 

I didn't make any other alterations except to hand stitch the bodice closed for modesty and prevent gaping. I think that one of the reasons that there is so much ease in the bodice is to allow the dress to be pulled on over your head and boobs. If I was to make this dress again I would sew a fitted bodice and insert a zipper in the side to allow for a snug fit. I french seamed this dress where possible and used my overlock stitch to finish the other seams. I sewed a pin hem on the skirt flounces as I wanted to keep as much length as possible and wanted a really neat finish. FYI - I would not even consider wearing this dress without a belt as it looks too sack like (which is how it is drafted). 

Because of the chiffon and underlining this took forever to make considering it is a simple design with no notions. However I am really pleased that with the outcome and it's a really cute and girly style without being too twee on me. I was initially worried that the flounces would make my hips look to wide, but I think that it works fine.  I would also happily wear this in the summer with flats (as long as it is not too windy outside! Those flounces love to catch in the wind!).

I am so behind in posting my June garment - I finished it ages ago but haven't had a chance to take any snaps. Will aim to get these up in the next week or so. 

I already have my August garment planned. It will be an amended version/wearable muslin of the top from New Look 6107. Although my output for this year has been considerably less I am enjoying tweaking the fit of my existing pattern and working with fabrics that are slow going. I have used chiffon in 3 of my monthly garments this year and all of them have been worth all of the extra time and effort. 

You can check out my Pattern Review here.

Anyone been handling any tricky fabrics lately?

Happy Sewing