I’m in the mood for a little red dress. I wear plenty of black, and since I am thoroughly sick to death of the nasty March weather we have been having lately in the Seattle area, I am gonna make me something perky and bright! I have had this pattern in my stash for, as my youngest son used to say, a “couple whiles”. Probably at least 3 years, and likely more. I had just the right amount of some red polyester knit fabric with a very nice “crepe-y” texture, so I cut it out this morning and it is ready to stitch up. Sweet!
I also checked the reviews for this dress on patternreview.com. (This site is one of my favorite sewing sites, and  does and awesome job of alerting you to any problems or issues with drafting or construction on commercial patterns. ) The things I noted on several reviews were 1) excessive stretching on the skirt (which is a half circle so lotsa bias!), 2) some stretching around the necklines and sleeves facings, and 3) the wrong side of the tie wraps showing. Hmmm. I was considering stitching some rayon seam binding into the skirt seams to stabilize those pesky bias seams…I think I will experiment with a few options. Maybe silk organza selvedge edges would work too. As for the neck and sleeve edges – I am voting for turning under twice and stitching on my coverstitch machine. I will probably either staystitch the  edges before I turn under, or possibly use a strip of light weight Steam-a-Seam, and pull it just a bit to “draw up” the fabric just a touch. I prefer no gaping, you know. 🙂
This dress is a snap to stitch up, so as long as I can stay out of the garden I should be able to complete it pretty quickly. Happy sewing!
Maris Olsen