Simplicity: 2724 (ProjRun Shirtdress w/ Ruffles)  - Type:Dresses  | | Viewed 479 times
| 12 more reviews | Review rated Very Helpful by 14 people | | Reviewed by: | nicegirl | 
 | About nicegirl | | DC USA | | Member since: 5/10/06 | | Reviews written: 145 | | Sewing skills:Intermediate | | Favored by: 153 people | | patterns reviewed: 145 | | Bio: more... |
| | Posted on: | 6/9/09 10:28 AM | | Project Photo: |  | | Pattern Photo: | 
Simplicity Pattern InfoMore Info provided by nicegirl | | Pattern Rating: | Highly Recommend | | See other patterns in this category: Dresses Skirts | Available for sale on PR: $16.95 (See envelope)  | | | | Fabric: | Cotton Shirting [See other projects in this fabric] | | Related Links | Click on  to add a link |
| Pattern Description:
Misses' dress has a faux-shirtdress bodice with optional ruffles or pleat neck bodice; choice of pleated or straight skirt; choice of sleeves. I like all the options available in the Project Runway patterns, especially as they are not just variations but completely different components, so you can get several distinct dresses out of a single pattern.
I went with the shirtdress style bodice and turned it inot an actual shirtdress; pleated skirt; and drafted my own sleeve.
Pattern Sizing:
4-20. I cut a six at the top, transitioning to a 12 at the hip. I should have cut an 8 at the top, I think.
Fabric Used:
Shirting (cotton plus something else, I think; I didn't do a burn test) and linen from The Carol Collection, which was a gift last year. My only costs were the pattern, zipper, buttons, and thread, so I probably spent around $5.
Time to Make:
I spent some time working on a custom sleeve, which added about an hour. I spent about 9 hours total on this dress.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I love all the options! I like the use of ruffles; I really like embellishments like that but am not good at coming up with uses for them on my own. So I appreciate patterns that tell me what to do with them!
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, other than my addition of sleeves.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Although they are thorough, I didn't necessarily find them easy or well-drafted, particularly when it came to attaching the ruffle. However, they are adequate for almost any level of sewist.
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
-I altered for a small bust by narrowing the bust dart, but decided to leave the lower pleat alone. It is not very wide and seemed suited to my bust size. After sewing up the dress, I had to shorten the bust dart by about an inch and a half, as it was overshooting my bust.
-To take advantage of my striped shirting, I cut the ruffles on the bias. The instructions for the ruffles are needlessly complicated, though they will spare you a visible line of stitching (I think). You are supposed to first press in your fold lines. Then sew one gathering stitch through both the ruffle and the turned under allowance, and one gather stitch just through the ruffle. You're the supposed to sew the single layered gathering long edge of the ruffle down right sides together, then turn it right side up and topstitch the other long edge (as far as I can tell). With a lot of gathering plus a bias cut ruffle this was just not going to work for me. I just ran the rows of gathering stitches through both thicknesses on both long edges of the ruffle and topstitched both sides in place.
-When I sat down to make the dress, I realized that it wasn't designed as a shirtdress, it only has the look of it. The bodice center front is sewn to the neckline, and the facing is short and goes only to the center front seam line. I had my heart set on this being a shirtdress, so I lengthened the facing to extend all the way to the bottom of the blouse portion and sewed button loops to the right side and sandwiched them between the facing and the fashion fabric.
After I completed the dress I saw that I needed an underlap as my skin was showing between the buttons. I just cut a rectangle of fabric, sewed the top edges, turned, and serged the long edge. I topstiched it in place by sewing over the inner row of stitching on the ruffle, so there is no visible stitching line.
-I have been curious recently about what kind of sleeve a half-ellipse would make. Using an Ikea sheet as muslin, I cut out the shape on the fold (so it's actually a full ellipse, with the fold serving as the sleeve hem). I pinned it in place and found it cute, but trying it on I saw that even a sleeve like this benefits from more fullness in front and less in back. As you can see in this comparison photo, while the muslin is symmetrical, the actual sleeve is narrower at the back and fuller at the front.
-When I installed the final sleeve, it was sticking straight out a little too much for my taste, so I folded out and sewed down some inverted pleats to tame the futuristic look. I finished the armhole edges by running bias tape all the way around the armscye.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I am not sure that I will give the other options in this pattern a try. Simplicity doesn't fit me well and I have so many other patterns to choose from that I probably won't mess around with fitting issues. However, I do love the details on this pattern, and would recommend it to others.
Conclusion
I am really loving the result. It's cute, but because it has traditional blouse shaping at the top is completely appropriate for the office. I feel like it's a less formal, more everyday wearable version of the BWOF 11-2007-106 shirtdress, which I wear for meetings with opposing counsel and visiting dignitaries.
All photos are here and the blog post is here. | Buy this pattern for $16.95 Add to Bag  |
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Pattern with more than 5 reviews!
<< Previous Review Next Review >> | Reader Comments | | Leora | 6/9/09 | I have looked at the ruffle and just couldn't get my head around it. Thanks to you, this is looking more doable! The extended facing and button loops are brilliant. I love it in stripes and your sleeves are great! | | * * * | | Karen6790 | 6/9/09 | I'm almost done my version of this dress, and like you, I love how many actual dresses you can get from one pattern. And you managed to make another one completely! I love the bias ruffles especially. | | * * * | | wendlesue | 6/9/09 | I love this dress. Lovely job. And thanks for all the info about your process. Great review
| | * * * | | Em's Summer | 6/9/09 | Cute dress! | | * * * | | michellep74 | 6/9/09 | Very, very cute dress! Love the ruffles on you! | | * * * | | CynthiaSue | 6/9/09 | ooh, makes me need to dig out the cut out UFO in my stash. thanks for the inspiration. i like the all the blue hues. | | * * * | | kim*brown | 6/9/09 | Very cute! | | * * * | | Mufffet | 6/9/09 | Great! Different! Like the style - love the shoes too. :) | | * * * | | Gelbean | 6/9/09 | Cute dress! Love the ruffles and your sleeves! | | * * * | | Nancywin | 6/10/09 | Good job on the dress. I really like your combination of fabrics/colors. I think you will get a lot of wear out of this. The button loop idea is ingenious! | | * * * | | DivaQ | 6/10/09 | So cute! | | * * * | | Grammy Gin | 6/10/09 | Lovely! You did a wonderful job on this dress. You do have a flair for embellishing....just a look at all the jewelry you make will tell you that! Stop belittling yourself all the time, please? You are one talented gal, IMHO! ;-) | | * * * | | Beek | 6/10/09 | I love the ruffles. I bought this pattern a bit ago and now I'm excited about tackling it. | | * * * | | morzel | 6/11/09 | This is a fabulous style on you! You should think about using the skirt part again, maybe for another dress project - it looks great on you. I never had sucess with combining two fabrics of different value together, but your combi works well! | | * * * | | DMLmom | 6/15/09 | Excellent review, pretty dress! Thank you for taking the time to provide so many details. | | * * * |
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