My Sewpbox

I had the most fantastic time making these dresses for my niece, Lily!  Both of them were made as gifts for her Christening.  At this point, they are both a little on the large side (I wanted them to fit her once summer rolls around), but you can hopefully see how cute they are in the pictures.  The green dress is New Look pattern 6796, and the purple is 6578.

6976 is made with two different fabrics (I used Tutti Frutti fabrics from JoAnn’s for both dresses).  The main body of the dress is the pink, and then there is a green border at both the top and the bottom, and two green pockets.  The dress ties on above both shoulders.  Unfortunately you can’t really see the layout of the dress (Lily is such a little peanut!  I’ll try to get another picture when she is a little bit bigger and you can see better).

6578 is made using only one fabric and is just a plain, simple dress with an adorable matching head scarf.  6578 calls for a button on each shoulder strap, but I replaced the buttons with snaps to make the dress easier to put on and take off for my sister.

I can not recommend these two patterns enough.  Both were quick and easy (I think it took me longer to trace and cut the patterns than it did to sew them.. definitely for 6578) and fun!  The instructions were clear and easy and the dresses are just too cute!

I’m planning to make a matching dress for my own daughter from pattern 6796.

I’ve been horrid about posting new items.. I know, I know!  I was having some problems with my gallery that I was feeling too lazy to fix.

This is a Vogue pattern that I made for my younger sister to wear on Valentine’s day.  She chose both the pattern and the fabrics.  I’m having mixed opinions about this dress.  One the one hand, I think that the dress is very flattering on her and looks quite beautiful.  On the other, I did have some issues with it and there are things about the finished product that I don’t like.

Pros?  The dress is strapless (obviously), but doesn’t give a strange shape to the bust like many strapless items do.  The dress also stays up nicely without fear of falling off.  There is nice definition in the waist.

Cons?  I feel like the button placket does not lie flat.  This is probably my error and due to my inexperience with sewing, so I am sure that someone more advanced would not have this problem.  If you are a beginner like me, though, you may have some issues with this.

Also, I am not a fan of the buttonholes.  The front looks fantastic, but they are sloppy on the inside.  I think that the slippery fabric I used for the lining of the bodice is the cause of this problem.  The two buttons on the skirt (which is just cotton) look infinitely better.

I did not really make any modifications to the pattern, belt aside.  My sister and I couldn’t find any belt buckles that we liked, so we chose a simple silver circle and I made a belt to adapt to using the circle (one side of the belt just has snaps and you clip it around the circle).

I do think that I will attempt this pattern again someday, and make a dress for myself.

My official review can be found here.