Dear Prudence dress blog tour

Sewpony just released her newest dress pattern, the Dear Prudence dress and today is the first day of the blog tour. SewPony showed the prototype of this dress during last year's fall and she mentioned that she was creating a pattern. I immediately reacted that I would love to test the dress and I had been eyeing the blog like a hawk ever since. I was so eager to sew this dress because of the pockets, the collar and neckline. The neckline is shirred and therefore there are no buttons or zipper needed, which is a feature I love!

While looking through my fabric stash, my eye fell on this grey with gold accents fabric from Michael Miller. While thinking about the fabric for the pocket and collar I remembered I still had a small scrap from another Michael Miller fabric with gold elements, the fabric I used for this dress. I choose to use gold piping due to the fact that both fabrics have gold elements. I think the combination is lovely.

In the past, I shirred with matching top thread, once I even sewed with transparent thread. This time, following Suz's own test dress, I used a contrasting color. I think the effect is very neat. Besides  elastic shirring thread, the neckline has an extra elastic in it. I would have never thought of it, but this way the top of the shirring also looks perfect.

Finding the right buttons is very hard around here. I have a small stash and somehow the colors I want, are never in it. This time, I ended up using metal anorak fasters from Prym. Although the details in the dress are gold, I think the silver is a nice extra detail, both have a nice shine.

Big pockets are a big plus in our house, my kids love them. When I finish a garment one of their first questions during fitting is if the garment has pockets. The pockets on this dress are great for fabric blocking, but you can also use one fabric for the entire dress. Suz very well explans in her instructions how to make the nice sharp edge with your piping.

The back of the dress has an elastic casting which creates a beautifully fitted look. I love the cap sleeves on this dress, but the dress also has the options for sleeveless, short sleeves or 3/4 sleeves, so you can make dresses for the entire year round.

Although the pattern's instructions do not call for it (Suz uses another nice technique), I hand stitched the front bodice's lining to the skirt. Ever since I did it for my Brueram dress I have been making beautifully hand finished bodices. I think it is really funny how my sewing quality is evolving. When I started making clothes, about three years, I didn't finish any seam, I just didn't care at all about the inside of a garment. I just wanted to be finished quickly. Now, I am even enjoying hand stitching linings and blind seams (in front of the television or watching my kids in the garden). I would not have believed you if you would have told me back then.

When I made the pictures in this flower field, it was very, very sunny. The field I found was lovely and I made several pictures but these were the only two that I could actually use. The rest were either overexposed (at such a level that even Photoshop couldn't save my raw files), my daughter was pinching her eyes or she was clearly being afraid of the bees that were also enjoying the flowers.

Because of the blog tour you can get 15% off the pattern's price  throughout the tour with code PRUDENCE15. The blog tour runs 6-17 July on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, more information can be found on Sewpony's blog.

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).