Claudette Dress / Simplicity 3749 Review
Today's Review is for the Claudette Dress / Simplicity 3749 Pattern Review:
I had received this pattern last April for my birthday and have been dying to try it ever since. I actually had this material that I had gotten from an auction and I thought I had enough for a circle skirt, but upon closer inspection, I had enough for a whole vintage dress! The fabric I had in mind, however, was a brown and white plaid. I have never worked with plaid before, so I knew I had to plan out the pattern pieces very carefully before I cut them out to make sure they matched somewhat. Before cutting, I did a lot of research, watched some videos and read some articles about cutting plaids. I came up with a couple of pointers that I may or may not have used, but I thought I would list them anyways.
1. Use a pattern with as few pieces as possible. Ok, I didn't even think about this until I was assembling my bodice pieces. I chose a dress without any darts on accident, which is great because I'm not a giant dart fan. I chose a princess seam bodice dress. However, that did pose a small problem whilst attaching the side bodice pieces. See hint #2.
2. Cut any pieces you can on the bias to create interest and not freak out about pieces not matching. I had enough fabric to cut the side bodice pieces both on the grain and on the bias, as suggested, to see which I liked best. Observe:
**Side bodice piece cut on the bias. I kind of like it...
**Side bodice piece cut on the grain. It kind of matches up...
I asked the husband which he preferred and he chose the 'on the grain' cut. So I went with those bodice pieces. And of course, the cats helped, as usual.
"This is a great spot to clean my face, Ma."
3. Cut the pieces on one layer of fabric instead of folding the fabric to make sure the plaid would match. I didn't do this. I also heard a tip/hint to fold the fabric, but make sure it is completely matching on both sides and pin the 2 pieces together like a mofo to make sure it stays matchy. I pinned a little, but not like a freak. I knew that the seams would most likely not match a whole lot, so I wasn't overly concerned with being perfect.
So I began to construct the dress without looking too much at the instructions because the pieces seemed pretty straightforward. I glanced at the instructions a couple of times when it came to the soft pleats and the stupid facings. I don't know why, but I abhor facings. Like, with a passion. Ugh. But I wanted to stick to making this as accurate as possible as far as the pattern pieces and construction went. Needless to say, I love this dress!! The fabric has some stiffness to it, so it gives the skirt some good body without having to wear a crinoline or anything. I thought the thickness/stiffness might make it uncomfortable during the hot Tennessee summers, but so far so good. It's gonna kick ass in the fall, though!
The front...
Bow belt :-D
...and the back.
The bodice was a tad too large, so I had to take the side seams in a bit. I also kept to the pressing any and every thing I sewed. I have a lot of pressing tools at my disposal, so why not use them? I think it makes everything just look so crisp and professional. If I can keep going on this super focused sewing, I can have a whole wardrobe in no time! What I mean by super focused sewing is that I am trying to not skip any steps and work through everything. The husband has been a huge help. He keeps me on track and focused. When I'm loafing on the couch, he insists I go sew, saying 'You're almost done!!' or 'It's coming along nicely!" And he's right. If I just sit down and really work at it, I can have something made in no time. This dress, for example, was done in a weekend, but could have been done in a day, maybe a day and a half. I ironed the fabric on Thursday night, cut the fabric on Friday, sewed the skirt and bodice pieces on Saturday and finished construction on Sunday. I feel like I am maturing as a seamstress and it feels good!
My next project is re-trying the Simplicity 1800 'amazing fit' dress. I had made it in a very heavy brown fabric and it was too large in all the wrong places. I ended up donating it to Goodwill rather than taking it in. Someone can get some use out of it. I love the neckline and it reminds me of a dress I actually found at Goodwill. My dream is to one day replace all my favorite dresses that I have bought with ones that I have made. How awesome would that be?! :-D
This dress is called the Claudette dress because my silly, fat ass cat was laying on the fabric while I was trying to determine where to cut. She is orange and black and white and kind of matches this fabric. Well, that's what she tells me anyways.
I had received this pattern last April for my birthday and have been dying to try it ever since. I actually had this material that I had gotten from an auction and I thought I had enough for a circle skirt, but upon closer inspection, I had enough for a whole vintage dress! The fabric I had in mind, however, was a brown and white plaid. I have never worked with plaid before, so I knew I had to plan out the pattern pieces very carefully before I cut them out to make sure they matched somewhat. Before cutting, I did a lot of research, watched some videos and read some articles about cutting plaids. I came up with a couple of pointers that I may or may not have used, but I thought I would list them anyways.
1. Use a pattern with as few pieces as possible. Ok, I didn't even think about this until I was assembling my bodice pieces. I chose a dress without any darts on accident, which is great because I'm not a giant dart fan. I chose a princess seam bodice dress. However, that did pose a small problem whilst attaching the side bodice pieces. See hint #2.
2. Cut any pieces you can on the bias to create interest and not freak out about pieces not matching. I had enough fabric to cut the side bodice pieces both on the grain and on the bias, as suggested, to see which I liked best. Observe:
**Side bodice piece cut on the bias. I kind of like it...
**Side bodice piece cut on the grain. It kind of matches up...
I asked the husband which he preferred and he chose the 'on the grain' cut. So I went with those bodice pieces. And of course, the cats helped, as usual.
"This is a great spot to clean my face, Ma."
3. Cut the pieces on one layer of fabric instead of folding the fabric to make sure the plaid would match. I didn't do this. I also heard a tip/hint to fold the fabric, but make sure it is completely matching on both sides and pin the 2 pieces together like a mofo to make sure it stays matchy. I pinned a little, but not like a freak. I knew that the seams would most likely not match a whole lot, so I wasn't overly concerned with being perfect.
So I began to construct the dress without looking too much at the instructions because the pieces seemed pretty straightforward. I glanced at the instructions a couple of times when it came to the soft pleats and the stupid facings. I don't know why, but I abhor facings. Like, with a passion. Ugh. But I wanted to stick to making this as accurate as possible as far as the pattern pieces and construction went. Needless to say, I love this dress!! The fabric has some stiffness to it, so it gives the skirt some good body without having to wear a crinoline or anything. I thought the thickness/stiffness might make it uncomfortable during the hot Tennessee summers, but so far so good. It's gonna kick ass in the fall, though!
The front...
Bow belt :-D
...and the back.
The bodice was a tad too large, so I had to take the side seams in a bit. I also kept to the pressing any and every thing I sewed. I have a lot of pressing tools at my disposal, so why not use them? I think it makes everything just look so crisp and professional. If I can keep going on this super focused sewing, I can have a whole wardrobe in no time! What I mean by super focused sewing is that I am trying to not skip any steps and work through everything. The husband has been a huge help. He keeps me on track and focused. When I'm loafing on the couch, he insists I go sew, saying 'You're almost done!!' or 'It's coming along nicely!" And he's right. If I just sit down and really work at it, I can have something made in no time. This dress, for example, was done in a weekend, but could have been done in a day, maybe a day and a half. I ironed the fabric on Thursday night, cut the fabric on Friday, sewed the skirt and bodice pieces on Saturday and finished construction on Sunday. I feel like I am maturing as a seamstress and it feels good!
My next project is re-trying the Simplicity 1800 'amazing fit' dress. I had made it in a very heavy brown fabric and it was too large in all the wrong places. I ended up donating it to Goodwill rather than taking it in. Someone can get some use out of it. I love the neckline and it reminds me of a dress I actually found at Goodwill. My dream is to one day replace all my favorite dresses that I have bought with ones that I have made. How awesome would that be?! :-D
This dress is called the Claudette dress because my silly, fat ass cat was laying on the fabric while I was trying to determine where to cut. She is orange and black and white and kind of matches this fabric. Well, that's what she tells me anyways.
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