Coffee Date dress

I finished sewing this dress several weeks ago but never got around to blogging about it. It is a free pattern available at Burdastyle. Let's see if I can remember all the details.

I made a muslin (using one of my mum's old saris) to see if the 32 petite would fit. I didn't like the way the bust darts looked; they seemed pointy and a bit high. Apart from that, the fit was perfect. So I sought help (thanks Christina!). With the tips that she gave me, I lowered the bust darts by 3/4" on my muslin, but it still didn't look quite right. I decided that it was the sari fabric that I was using for the muslin rather than the placement of the darts that was making it look strange, so in the end I went ahead and sewed the bust darts as they were originally. I did curve the legs towards the ends to make them look more rounded and less pointy.

The only changes that I made were to: lengthen the skirt hem by 1.5", line the dress (by basically making a second dress using the lining fabric), and skip the ruffle (my print was busy enough to begin with).

Like the pattern suggested, I used the all-in-one facing technique to attach the lining to the dress. It took me a little while to figure it out, but it looks very neat and I'm with happy with the finish.

The pattern is straight forward and fairly simple and results in a basic dress with a well fitted bodice and flowing skirt. I would definitely make this dress again.

I'm very happy with it; I think you can tell! Thanks to my husband for taking the photos.