I just finished a dress and I am so stinking excited. The Sunny Dress is a first for me in a lot of ways! First dress I have ever sewn. First knit I have ever sewn. First Indie pattern. First PDF pattern. First sewing make of 2018. First project for the Sew My Style Challenge. It was going to be the first piece for my capsule wardrobe – but it is to small! That is the only down side I have for this little beauty.
I bought the pdf pattern for the Sunny Dress from the Friday Pattern Co and love how it looks on the model and all the pictures I found on Instagram. There are so many things you can do with the pattern I can’t even tell you. It is something I would have never found if it wasn’t part of the challenge. Not that Friday Pattern Co isn’t great, but I just have no idea about finding indie pattern companies yet.
When I bought the pattern I thought that it was going to be the one I made all my future tee shirts and tunics out of. I love the scalloped bottom on tee shirts because they hide muffin tops that might poke out over jeans and rarely do you have to yank the hem back down over your jeans – I had so many plans. After making my dress with the pattern though I have to keep looking. The pattern is awesome and it would be great on a lady who is more slender than I am. I added a full inch to the back of the dress thinking I would give myself a little more slouching room, but I still look like an over stuffed sausage when I tried it on. I even spent 45 minutes undoing the side seams to resew them with a 1/4 inch seam instead of the 5/8 inch to see if the fit would be better. No such luck. It looks awesome on Berta (my dressform) and is going to be the foundation piece for all the pictures I take on her from now on.
My Make:
- Dress in XXL
- Knit fabric – cotton blend
- Cotton thread
- Pattern Prep – 1 hour to print, cut, tape, then cut out pieces
- Sewing Time – 3 hours (including time spent unpicking the side seams)
My Alterations:
- I added an extra inch on the back of the dress. I pinned the dress pattern a 1/2 inch away from the fold and sloped the lines to where they would be when I cut. I did this to give myself a little slouching room, but like I said it still came out to small.
- I left the edges all unhemmed. I have a tee shirt from Hard Rock Café that I love that just has the raw edges and I love the look. I did run a line of stay stitching around all the edges to keep them from getting distorted.
My Recommendations:
If you have no belly I think this dress/ shirt would be awesome for you. It is easy and fun to make. If your new to sewing knits or just sewing period your going to love it.
Blinking Cat Life 