my first KWIK SEW 3489

I finally sewed this dress!!


I have a long story for this dress.
As I'm not good at explaining things short&clear, I try to focus on making it clear today.

I saw this beautiful dress made by Ms Erica Bunker some time ago. Since then I've longed to sew my one from the same pattern.
I asked my lovely friend Lindsay to get me KWIK SEW 3489 on our sewing goodies swapping last year and she was so kind to grant my wish.
A month ago, I finally found a fabric which seemed so right for the pattern, but I knew it was surely one of least good choices for my color complexion.
I deceived myself to buy it by telling myself "It's going to be a muslin, it's not going to be wearable anyway" three times and took it home, because I loved it too much.
I sewed it, in the right size according to the sizing chart on the envelope.
It was huge.
I told myself "Look at it! You knew this was going to happen."
I still loved the fabric.
I ripped all seams.
I re-cut almost all parts from the ripped scraps.
I made it almost 3 size smaller.

* note that the dress on the right is not the final product. I changed sleeves and ribbons, and hemmed by 2.5cm after taking this photography*

I re-sewed the dress. It was OK this time.
I love this dress. I'd wear it. I'd feel very happy in it.
I decide to ignore the color problem until I find I actually look horrible in this dress. I may not find myself that bad. It may not happen.
The dress is lovely anyway.





Pattern Description:
Misses' fitted wrap dresses have waist seam, flared skirt with shaped front edge, V-neckline, bust darts, and self-fabric ties. View A ties at the side and has collar and full length sleeves. View B has wrap around ties that tie in front, and very short sleeves. I chose collar and sleeves from view A, and tie from view B.

Pattern Sizing:
XS-S-M-L-XL, I cut in S
According to the size chart, I chose S size. However, I found it way too bigger than I expected on my first attempt. I needed to sew it again to make it much smaller. Amazingly, I could re-cut all pieces from the first run, except front bodice parts. The first one was that big, comparing to the re-sewn one which fit right in the end.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, pretty much, after adjusting the size, besides the changes I made to it.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes. I barely needed to read the text, because the pictures were excellent.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like the style of the dress, without a doubt. However, I liked the pattern much more if I didn't need to find it very roomy after my first attempt. I am not particularly fond of this rounded hem of the front skirts, but it was easy to alter thus I don't count it as a dislike.

Fabric Used:
Very soft polyester jersey with slightest PU blend.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I modified the skirts to have a straightened front instead of the original rounded hem. I widened the ribbons and adopted the closure of View B, because I wanted to avoid the elastic casting in the back waist of View A. I shortened the sleeves and added cuffs also.

For better fitting, I shortened the length of the dress by 10cm in total, and took width quite a lot (~12cm). I felt that it was almost re-drafting the pattern.
I'm quite sure that the biggest reason of my sizing problem was that my fabric was soft and 2-way stretch. Besides, I still feel this pattern is made very roomy, as some of members already mentioned. I just didn't expect it this big when a moderately soft&stretchy fabric was used.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I would love to sew it again, in some pretty jersey for the summer. I now know that I really have to be careful about the sizing though. It's difficult for me to say if I would really recommend it to others because I expect others would need to be careful too...

Conclusion:
Although I needed to sew it twice to get one dress that fit well, I'm quite happy with the result. I also got a complement from my husband, which is VERY rare to happen. I think this dress looks very pretty, and it is surely comfortable!


Have a happy week!