I’m pretty sure this is my first me-made maxi. I don’t know why I don’t just live in maxi dresses and skirts. They are so comfortable! And yet, I’m not as thrilled with this dress as I imagined I would be.
I didn’t have enough fabric to make this as long as I’d like. (To my mom’s chagrin, I pretty much like my maxis a centimeter above “dragging on the ground like a filthy heathen.”) I had 2 yards, and this was the absolute best I could do. I think I may need to narrow the sides a bit to balance it out. Or just make it a midi. But I have a constant urge to shrink and slump to keep the dress looking long. Awkward and uncomfortable is definitely not what I was going for!
I would love to hear your thoughts. Should I go midi, similar to this:
Sorry, dudes, this dress is sold out already… Good thing you can make something similar yourself!
Maybe add some horsehair braid to the hem to emphasize the full skirt?
In the meantime, a few notes;
- The bodice definitely came out as an empire style on me, a bit different than the line drawing had me expecting.
- I love the invisible zipper application! I was skeptical, but it worked! I *really* could have used this tutorial when I was making the maroon wool dress and it kept twisting. Either way, it’s in my arsenal now. Check it out on the Lisette sewalong here. (While it sounds like the method described is different than the pattern instructions, it’s really the same.) Seriously, the pattern is worth it in my book just for this step!
Changes I Made:
- Lengthened the dress (too bad I didn’t have a few more inches to make this a full maxi!)
- Eliminated the sleeves and used bias binding to finish the armscye
- Narrowed the seams on the midriff band to make it a bit wider. This helped me eliminate most of the front gathers. (Accidentally, by the way–I was really just trying to keep some width for fit purposes.)
So, I’m on the fence here. I had really high expectations for this dress. I was picturing flouncing around and being super smug about how awesome it was, and clearly, that’s not what I’m doing here.
Crooked print alert! Maybe if I stand like this it’ll look straight…
On the other hand, when I’m daydreaming about future projects, I keep imagining all my other fabrics in this exact style. It came together easily and is pretty flattering. There’s a lot to like about this pattern, and I think it really depends on having the right print and color to be a closet standout. (Or, alternately, it would be an amazing everyday staple in black or navy. Wheels turning…)
Also, news. Some of the seams in this garment are serged, on my brand new serger! Woo-hoo!
Who needs authentic communication when you have Bitmoji?
I got the Brother 1034D, based on the overwhelming number of reviews and sheer volume of tutorials available for it. I considered a couple of Juki models, but the lower-end model didn’t have a feature the Brother did, and the higher model didn’t offer a compelling reason to spend an extra 40% beyond the fact that it seemed “cooler” than the everyone-has-one Brother.
There’s more to the story than this, but I think I’ll save that for a separate post. (Trust me, it’s worth it.)
So, what’s the verdict on this dress? Change? Embrace? Discard immediately in a KonMari fit? Would love your thoughts.
Love your version of this pattern. The maxi length looks great! Believe me, no one will say a thing about the pattern being a little crooked, people who don’t sew don’t see things like that.
I have the same serger and I LOVE it! All I can say is practice, practice, practice with it!
Once again, great dress & you look lovely!
Thank you for weighing in on the length, Bonnie! Also, I’m so glad to hear you like the 1034D! So far it’s been great (aside from one massive user error incident).
Don’t dump it!! The length totally reads maxi to me, I wouldn’t cut it shorter–just enjoy not tripping over the hem! I hadn’t really considered this pattern before as the cover art feels a bit dowdy, but leaving off the sleeves makes it instantly so much more awesome! Will have to pick it up in the next sale.
Okay, I will call off the potential tossing. 🙂 I do recommend the pattern overall — it was pretty friendly to sew up. Thanks for your thoughts on the length!
You need to strut in your maxi, it looks good! Often the first is not exactly what we had in mind, but that is exactly why we keep a stash because we know eventually, one day, we are going to use it (mostly we know that).
I like your approach, Monica — don’t just keep it, strut around in it! We should all have that kind of attitude with our projects.
This dress looks great. I am buying this pattern tomorrow! The length is perfect and the print looks on grain to me! You should make another and at the same length.
Thanks, Jill! I wore this dress today and it was comfy (especially in the rayon) that I just might make another at this length!
It looks great, honestly. DO NOT TOSS IT. and if you’re tempted, send it to me instead :). I made that pattern and had the same issue. It was empire waisted on me, and I’m short waisted, LOL. But your version is so cute. It looks as though it should be that way.
Thank you, Linda! To be honest, I think the print is doing me a lot of favors. The print makes the midriff band just blend in, so you don’t really notice how short the bodice is. I will take your advice and not toss this one!
I think it looks great and the length is just fine for a maxi. But I do understand liking things just a certain way and if they aren’t you focus on it and it drives you crazy. If this is the case then I do think it would look good as a midi as well. Especially if you’re more likely to wear it that way. But absolutely do not toss it!
Exactly! It’s not that it’s bad, I just need to adjust my expectations away from the specific vision I had. Thanks for the perspective!