Make This Look

So I joined The Sew Weekly Sewing Community last spring, hot on the heels of Me-Made-March.  One of the things that I loved about that project was the sense of community that I found there.  Sewing can be a rather solitary pursuit, and it was great to see people who liked to sew as much as I did.  So I joined up, and totally ignored it.  So I decided this year to take part in some of the challenges, just to get my creative juices flowing.  Last week, the topic was to copy something from ready to wear.  One of the features of the website is a regular column where the founder takes a garment from ready-to-wear and finds a pattern that will work, as well as some fabric.  It's called Make This Look:

This is the one that I chose to make last week.  It's supposed to be done and posted within the week, but I chose a rather busy week to give this a shot - so it's a Make This Look A Week Late dress.  I really liked the easy, prairie style of the dress in the picture, and I'm a sucker for a peasant neckline, even though it isn't the most flattering to the girls:

Project 10 - Hillside Prairie Belted Dress

Pattern:  New Look 6091 - $5

Fabric:  quilting cotton from Fabricland - $5/m x 2 m

Total Cost: $15

Thoughts:  I really like this pattern, after a few adjustments.  I made it up as it came, with the gathers around the neckline, but it was too poofy and too wide at the neckline.  So I took that out and replaced it with pleats, which lay a little flatter at the neck, with the stiffer fabric.  It's still pretty poofy at the back:

which you can see here, as it poofs out over my belt.  But  that's the back (I can't see it!), and is partly a result of my tilted waist (higher in the back than it is in the front).

All in all, I like this dress more than I thought I would.  It sounds weird to say it, but I wasn't really sure how flattering it would be.  It isn't my usual sort of thing, but it's growing on me.  I styled it for winter in the above pictures and I don't think it looks too much like I'm trying to get away with a summer dress in February.  And it will be great for when it actually warms up here. 

Thumbs up all around! 

Comments

[Magpie Mimi]

I really like this dress on you, it looks really fun and funky!

[Mary Collins]

Thanks Mimi! It was fun to make too - not too hard and good results!

[kelley]

Hi there -- I am currently making this same dress from make this look. I am stuck at the nexk. I am a novice at sewing but I really want to finish this up tonight. Any tips on finishing the neck? I like the pleat idea.