Two times Simple Dress and a cardigan

She apparently sewed her first version during our sewing weekend and this week she launched the dress as a FREE pattern; wow that is speed. The dress in question is called the Simple Dress, and as you could have guessed from the name, it is a pattern for a relatively simple jersey dress. No zipper, no buttons and a subtle gathering at the sides.

You might have already seen my first version on Instagram. I was testing this dress at the same time as this shirt. I do not like putting fabric back in my fabric closet after I used a piece from it, so I cut a dress from the same dog fabric. The busy fabric is not ideal to show off the nice detail in the waist. The gathering is almost invisible, check out her release post to see how it should look.

I love the combination of the cardigan and dress, which were actually coincidentally paired. She was wearing the cardigan and feared the short sleeves would be cold. Wearing the cardigan was a compromise to get pictures. My middle one is spot-on a size four in the measurement table. A little bit extra length was added to the final pattern, this one might become tunic over the summer.

For this test version of the pattern I really followed the instructions and ironed a neckline seam and sewed it down. The result was better then I expected, the dog fabric was a relatively thick jersey and the neckline looks great.

I also made my eldest a Simple Dress. I was paying so much attention to adding enough length hem (seam allowance is not included in the pattern), that I forgot that the rest of the pattern also needed a seam allowance (palm to the face). I therefore added narrow cuffs to the sleeves and a bias to the neckline. Due to me forgetting the seam allowance and maybe picking a bit too small size to start with, the dress has a slightly different shape, it is more fitted than it should be. I forgot to change the bobbin holder to go with my twin needle, which resulted in a stretched neckline. I unpicked, steamed and resewed, but I hope that a wash will truly remove the evidence of my mistake.

I noticed that I am starting to prefer different fabric prints for my eldest, than for my middle daughter. I became aware of this when people pointed out to me how grown up she looked in this dress. I was searching my jersey stash and did not find a fabric that I really liked for her Simple Dress (I have the same hot air balloon fabric and it seemed so perfect, but I did not wanted to make a replica), so I let her pick herself. I would not have chosen this one for her, but seeing that she loved the print, I am totally fine with it. I bought the fabric last summer during a crazy sale at Joyfits.

I feel other bloggers have closets full of cardigans, we do not. I never had one when I was a kid (and do not own any now). I am warming up to them though. We have a few, but most were gifted. For today's post I made one. I felt the busy fabric had to be toned down a bit, and the short sleeves could get some help in warming her. I used one of my old sweaters so it actually became a cropped cardigan (or long bolero), there simply wasn't more length.

I used the Slouchy Cardigan pattern from Heidi and Finn. I made a size 5, which would normally have to be lengthened for her, but I actually had to shorten the pattern pieces due to my fabric constraint. The arm cuff are less tall than the original pattern, again due to fabric constraints. I used the original hem, both from the bodice and sleeves for the band around the cardigan. The original neckline fabric was a stretchy ribbing, as you can see on the picture, and I used a small piece of that stretchy ribbing to make the neckline of the cardigan. One of the cardigans in our closet has this two fabric type combination band, and I really like it.

The cardigan can be worn with sleeves up or down. I very much like the bunched up sleeves, but I already know my daughter prefers them down. I see many more cardigan types in my sewing future. As could be expected, I added pockets to the second dress. I did not add them to the first, and you can really see my girl searching for them in one of the pictures.

 I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).