The Green Gingham Dress - Simplicity 2444 - Pattern Review

Well my lovelies..


here it is...


the moment I have been waiting for.  We were finally able to get some photos today after church.

The Green Gingham Dress
Simplicity 2444

I thought I would ask myself some questions that I might ask of someone who would be considering making this dress. (Did I sound a bit like Austin Powers there?)

Did it take me A LOT longer than I thought it would? Why yes it did, but I have no idea why! It was a very simple pattern and I had to make only one minimal alteration - taking away a bit from the front skirt portion at the waist. I think this was due to the fact it hung soooooo long waiting for the bodice to be ready.

Did I add a lining? Yes, but only to the bodice. This eliminated the need for the facings AND it helps to smooth the lumps and bumps that I knew my fashion fabric would not be able to, due to it's stretchiness. I will note that my lining fabric was a nice heavy stretch cotton. I intend on wearing the dress with a petticoat so no need to line the skirt.

Now that I have made it up, is there anything I have noticed that I would do differently next time? Well, I have a high hip. What I mean by that is my pelvis is long, so my waist is higher up on my torso than say the PERFECT body (what ever that is!) I have to pay attention to the waist height on most patterns. On this pattern, I am debating adding 1" to the length of the bodice next time. I noticed that most of the reviewers of this pattern were short 5' 2" or so. This could explain why only one person commented on where the waist fell (she shortened it but she was like 5'0") and most people had to hack off the hem. I, on the other hand, saw that the unfinished length was exactly where I wanted the finished length to be (I am 5' 6.5"). So I had to solve that problem by using a hem facing.

Hem Facing;

 using a facing allowed me to hem it at the unfinished length minus about 1 cm.

Machine sewn (not so) blind hem; 
using my sewing machine to hem this dress saved me a good hour or so of hand sewing. 

What about other people's observations that there is too much fabric at the neckline? Not for me! I have broad shoulders, so this worked to my advantage. It is however, on the cusp, the cusp of too much fabric. I did notice, however, that the finished dress feels like it needs a tiny FBA (full bust adjustment). I did not notice this on my muslin. NEXT TIME I'll add a tiny bit of room.


Did I change the order of construction in any way? I ALMOST changed the way you sew the bodice to the skirt. Originally, because I wanted to use a waist stay, I was going sew the bodice together and join it to the assembled skirt. The pattern would have you sew the front bodice to the front skirt (which has a seam in the center front) and the back bodice sides (there is a center back seam) to the back skirt sides. This would make it difficult for me to smoothly insert a Petersham ribbon waist stay. But then I realized two things: 1) I will always wear a belt with this lovely dress and I don't think I want a bodice, a liner, a waist stay and a belt around my mid section in the summer. 2) I may or may not gain or lose weight, bur when I do, I happens RIGHT at my waist. Having a center back zipper and a side seam that runs from armpit to hem makes this dress very alterable. A definite bonus in my mind.

UPDATE (April 2012):  I am very pleased that I decided to sew this dress up the side seams as directed in the instructions.  I've lost more weight resulting in this dress being too loose in the shoulder/waist area.  Last night it took me 15 minutes to take in this dress and now my pretty dress fits once again!

Did I match the impossibly difficult because it is small and stretchy gingham at the side seams, amazing seamstress? Oh dear, now I am blushing, in fact, I did match it. Do you hate me? Teehee hee

I also made the petticoat that is under this dress.  I took photos along the way and am considering posting a tutorial.  I used a Janome ruffler foot, the rolled hem foot and a serger for the entire petticoat.  I did absolutely NO hand gathering or basting stitches. If you have a special interest in this, could you please leave me a comment and let me know?  I am not sure if I will take the time to write it up if I don't think anyone would be interested.  

Because I feel like I just can't quite yet let go of the accomplishment of being finished this dress.  I think I will do one more post about it!  Maybe tomorrow.

Origins story
Muslin Post