Star Anise Dress release from Gracious Threads

Last Friday Gracious Threads released a new dress pattern, the Star Anise and I was allowed to test it. This pattern for woven fabrics gives a look that I normally do not sew, I couldn't explain what was different until Jess wrote it herself, this is a sophisticated dress. My almost eight year old indeed looks much more grown up in this dress than in the twirly dresses I usually sew her. I feared for a moment my client wouldn't want a not so twirly dress, but she likes it a lot and so do I, so prepare for a picture overload!

My girl is a skinny one, so I had to combine a size 5 chest with a size 8 length. Somewhere something went wrong and my seams do not match. I rechecked the pattern and that wasn't the problem, the pattern is perfect! It is not a huge problem to me, the main fabric is that crowded that the lines are not very visible. Check out the official release post of this dress to see how beautifully the seams are supposed to line up.

The dress is designed with mid length puffy sleeves that end just above the elbow. Jess showed me a dress she sewed with slightly longer sleeves and I asked permission to sew the same length. With winter around the corner I think 3/4 sleeves are a bit more suitable (seeing as my girl doesn't really has layering stuff). The funny thing is that the sleeves and waistband now line up almost perfectly with these 3/4 sleeves, almost like I intended it like that, but do not be fooled, it is totally coincidental. The pockets are my own addition.

I bought the fabric at fabric.com almost a year ago. It is called Moda Folklore Otomi Cloud-Pumpkin. It was on clearance sale then and now seems to be sold out everywhere. I took great care to put the main graphic on the front of the bodice. I tried to have a perfect back as well, but somehow screwed up the cutting part. I think it still looks nice though. I could have put the top left side of the zipper such that the print would have been perfect, but I feared the bodice would become too small then.

The contrasting rust fabric is from Soft Cactus. Most of the testers choose a contrasting waistband, but this dress is also very pretty in one uni color, the seams are true eye catchers then. Although it might be an official "special occasion" dress, it works great for school dresses or any other day dresses as well, so hop over to Gracious Threads and checkout the pattern!

 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).