The Story: My good friend, Jennifer, gave me a Craftsy online sewing class for my birthday one year. At that time, I had not really ventured into sewing garments, so I told her I’d have to work up to this. I started the online class in January 2017 and I worked on it over several months. Truth be told, I got discouraged and I sewed some easier projects in between. Finally, after learning a bit more and continued practice, I worked through it. I finally finished the dress on July 2, 2017!

This dress is definitely the best quality garment I’ve made. I’ve made two dresses in the past. I could not really walk in the first one. The second one was so small I could not put it on. They are both in the scrap heap. Not this dress! This dress has a lining inside and the fabric is very beautiful. I wanted to have something I could wear to work, out with friends, or anywhere, yet captured who I am and how I’m feeling these days.

I really liked making a muslin test garment. It was certainly worth the time. I even decided not to make the sleeves because of it. It was a good learning experience and a lot of work, but I can tell the difference from the other items I’ve made.

Pattern: V8766 Misses'/Misses' Petite Fitted or Flared Dresses

Fabric: Muslin and black lining from JoAnn’s Fabrics, Guaranteed Wax Block Print Super Tchigan with the Angelina pattern from Gideon’s Needle.

Notions: Items on the instructions.

How did it look compared to the pattern? The same.

Were the instructions easy to follow? They were easy to follow, but the dress was not easy to make. It was the most difficult pattern I’ve tried so far.

Likes? I love how it fits and how it looks.

Dislikes? Had trouble fitting the back and it is certainly not perfect.

Pattern changes? I altered the pattern according to the Craftsy class that I took. I had to do a bust adjustment on the bodice, but I did not have to change the skirt.

Will I sew this again? If I do, it will have a full skirt.