April Rhodes Party Dress Finished

My Party dress has been finished for a little while now but things have been so crazy around here I haven’t had time to blog about it until now.  

As I mentioned in my original post the pattern is the Riding Peplum and Party Dress by April Rhodes.  The pattern is basically a two for one.  You get both a peplum pattern and a party dress pattern.

I was initially drawn to this pattern for two reasons: 1) I heard how easy to make April’s patterns are and for a first time dressmaker I needed something fairly simple. 2) The dress is just delicious – the length, the fullness of the skirt, the sleeveless top... need I say more?

Left: Before I added the ties.               Right: After I added the ties.

I made my dress in the xs size, and found that it was a little too big once it was finished - the top fit pretty well, but the waist was too big.  Since I am new to dress making and had no idea how to alter the actual dress, I decided to add some matching ties to synch the waist and accentuate my figure more.  

To be fair I am a very small human being, think middle school kid size but taller.  I did have one of my friends try on this dress and it fit her much better than it fit me - unfortunately this is usually the case for me when it comes to clothes and is part of the reason I wanted to try my hand at making some. 

Front of the Dress before and after I added the Ties

All around this was a great pattern and I learned a lot in the process.  I learned how to make bust darts and facing, and I learned how to add said facing to the dress. I have to say I would recommend the pattern.  It is such a great learning tool, and if you are already an experienced seamstress well then its a quick pattern that turns out beautifully.  

Back to work on some and quilts and patterns of my own!

Elise 

Edit: A finish crossed off my Q2 FAL List Blogged about here