Saturday, June 8, 2013

Simplicity 2362 -- Halter (or Not) Dress

While I was busy working on my dress and jacket, my daughter was busy working on a dress of her own.  She wanted a halter sundress, and I had a pattern that fit the bill:  Simplicity 2362.  (This pattern is now out of print, but Simplicity 1800 Amazing Fit pattern has a very similar look.)  She made her usual size 10, but since this dress is not fitted around the shoulders and the bodice needs to fit snugly, she probably could have made an 8.

We loved the lines of this dress and we really loved the big pockets!

She chose a cherry quilting cotton for the dress, and lined it in red gingham.  Both fabrics were from Joann Fabrics.  (Another plus for this pattern -- it's perfect for all those cute quilting cottons!)  Here's a view of the back.

My daughter did a great job.  There were lots of details on this dress, the bodice was pleated and lined, pockets, etc.  She did all this herself.  The only part I helped her with was the zipper, and that's because it was a lapped zipper, which neither she nor I had ever done before.  However, the directions were good and it all turned out.
Here's a closer look at the bodice pleating:
And the back zipper (I've pulled it back a bit so you can see we used a red metal vintage zipper I had in my stash:)  Also, here you can see the cute lining (sorry for the slight blur).



Those wonderful pockets:
Those pockets proved to be a bit problematic.  If you have pockets like that you WILL put your hands in them, and because this is a halter dress, it tends to pull the back down (despite having elastic in the back and despite making it as tight as possible).  The first time my daughter wore this we safety-pinned the back of the dress to her undergarments as a last resort.  However, for the long term that was unsatisfactory, so since these pictures were taken we have converted the dress from a halter to a sundress by sewing the straps down to the back.  Don't worry -- it's still cute:)

Now that the dress is done, this is how my daughter feels about it:
I feel the same way, too, very proud of her!

11 comments:

  1. Lovely dress, beautiful daughter!!
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Hugs,
    Sue

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  2. It's fabulous, Angela! I adore the fabric and the red gingham lining with it - just perfect! Your daughter has clearly inherited her mother's very considerable sewing talents! She's done a marvellous job. No wonder you're proud of her! You are so right about the pockets - so convenient and handy and much too tempting not to put your hands in them so your ingenious solution of sewing the straps to the back is clearly the way to go. I like patterns with pockets - so many commercial garments don't have any and one doesn't always want to carry a separate bag. Hope your daughter enjoys every minute of wearing this and gets rafts of compliments to boot - she deserves to! E x

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  3. Lovely. Beaut fabric too. Looks great on your daughter.

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  4. GREAT dress!! Wow -- I'm impressed. There really are some tough details on the dress, and they're even more difficult b/c it's fitted so closely. Nice shape. And the lining is adorable fabric!

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  5. She is doing such a good job...and I smile because I remember sewing my own clothes at her age. She is really turning into a beautiful young lady..and her looks are changing also. Give her a hug and pat on the back from me.

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  6. Very cute and it looks great on her. Well done!

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  7. That pleated section in the center of the bodice is so cute, but not as cute as your lovely daughter! I know she will enjoy all the compliments she will receive on this great dress. Very impressive!

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  8. I'm not surprised you're so proud of her - she did a great job on a gorgeous dress. The fabrics are so pretty. I love that she's been inherited your sewing skills and you've inspired her to have a go. x

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