Sewing - Simplicity 2444 in Silk Cotton

After a long 18 month hiatus with sewing, I have finally finished another dress. I used Simplicity 2444; a tried and tested dress pattern that has featured around here previously. The dress fits my figure really well, cinching in at the waist and then flaring out.

This pattern seems to be pretty easy to make and I found the hardest part was putting the dress together after I cut the pieces out a little wrong. Fine after I fixed it though. The hem is really hard to do, I've found and I don't even know if they match up to be honest. I still have a little work to do on the dress.

This is also the first dress I have lined which was a far easier process than I thought it would be. For the dress bodice I used a Lisa Ho silk cotton that I bought from The Fabric Store in Surry Hills. For the skirt I used a silk/cotton that I bought from Darn Cheap Fabrics (I also bought the bodice lining from there) and the skirt lining was a cotton voile I picked up from The Fabric Store. 

Even though I pretty much had to sew the dress twice due to my own cutting out, I found the process to be simple and the dress turned out well. In hindsight, I am not sure this pattern was meant for beginner sewers but since I've now made 3 of these dresses they are starting to look better. Can't wait to get back in to sewing and try out other patterns!

I love this photo. Ted came over to see what I was doing while I was trying to pose.

I made another dress!

Finally, after a 6 month sewing hiatus I got back in to it and finished a dress ready for my work Christmas party. Even though I stayed up until 11pm the night before, I am so happy I was able to finish it and somewhat tie it in to the Nautical theme of the party.

The dress pattern is Simplicity 2444 which I have reviewed before here. I chose this pattern again as I had it on hand and I love the way the dress comes in at the waist and has a nice full skirt. I love that style on me and find that it is very flattering. A lot of dresses out at the moment are those big flowy ones that don't give much shape and they don't suit me at all.

The dress has front darts to bring in the bodice and the skirt has pleats at the front and back. That is about as technical as I get when describing patterns/DIY clothes as I have no idea about the terminology. 

If you are looking for a dress to sew, I definitely recommend this pattern. The instructions are very clear and if you actually read them (I got the first three steps wrong because I thought I knew what I was doing, HA!) you should be able to put the dress together easily. The hardest part is the zipper, but that is nothing to do with the actual pattern. Zippers are hard to put in generally (Unless you are an awesome sewer, in which case I wouldn't bother taking any advice from me!).