The Staple Dress - No. 1
The girls had their last day of school on the 23rd. We were all ready for the school year to be over. No more homework! And loads more down time, for them and for me. With a few hours of freedom staring at me, I decided to make myself a dress.
I had seen a few versions of The Staple Dress by April Rhodes floating around on various blogs and instagram. I was immediately attracted to the simplicity of the style. It looked like a comfy, easy dress for summer. Also, the smallest sizes would fit my girls - a new found bonus of having tween/teens that wear women's sizes. I jumped in.
I made a size large based on the pattern's measurements. I did increase the length on top by one inch as I am long in the torso. The most time consuming part was taping the pdf pattern pages together and tracing the pattern. (Side note: I really wish that all pdf patterns had full pattern pieces that you could print at a copy center if you desired in addition to the pages you have to tape together). The sewing came together quickly and the directions were clear and easy to follow. The only hiccup I had was when it came time to use elastic thread for the waist. I had no problems shirring on my Bernina 430 in the past, but as I no longer own that machine (wish I would have kept it instead of trading it in!), I was starting fresh. I did a little online research to figure out what my options were. I could adjust the bobbin case tension on my Bernina 820, but I am hesitant to mess with anything on that machine. Or I could adjust the tension on Kate's Brother. I went with the second option - thank you, google search.
As soon as the dress was finished, I put it on and wore it the entire day. It is super comfortable, albeit a bit large. I think I will try the next one a size down to see the difference. Regardless, I highly recommend this pattern - it's very well done and the result is a versatile dress. I will definitely make myself another and probably one for each of the girls. I'm working my way through large cuts of fabric that I don't think I will use for quilt backs and at just under 3 yards each, this is a good stash busting pattern. Plus, with the studio floors being painted and all of my studio stuff littering the guest room (as evidenced in the above photo), clothes sewing seems to be the way to go right now. I'm taking recommendations for any clothing patterns - dresses, skirts, blouses in particular. Tell me what you've got.