Cutting Out My First Dress

For my first attempt at clothing I wanted to make a dress and after seeing this post of April Rhodes Party Dress in pink and gold I knew it was the one I wanted to make.   The pattern is called the Riding Peplum or Party Dress.  I went with the party dress option for obvious reasons of wanting a dress but I imagine the peplum would be fun to make too!

For my fabric I went with a really fun Paris themed fabric called "I Dream of Paris" by Windham Fabrics.  I love the big architectural pieces mixed with the old time postcards.  To me it felt like kind of vintage, soft, and feminine. 

While cutting out the pieces I also realized that I wanted the prints to line up exactly in the front.  Since I had not bought quite enough to match my one way large print I decided to piece the skirt from what I did have and see if I could make it work.

I surprised myself with the results making my seams almost invisible in the front and the back (the above photo is a close up and I think I nailed that seam). The skirt piece below actually has three seams in it (only because I was obsessing with my fabric being exact) and to me it looks like just one piece.

So far the pattern has been wonderful.  The pattern itself was easy to put together (it was a PDF download) and the directions for cutting the pieces have been easy to and simple to follow. 

I hope to get some more time to work on this dress soon!

Elise