I ignored my UFO pile this weekend but decided to participate in the Sewcial Bee monthly challenge. Kat posted a helpful list of current challenges so I checked out Gillian’s post regarding the Sewcial Bee challenges. I missed the one last month but was definitely all over it this time around. The challenge was posted on Saturday morning and the intent is to sew something over the weekend that meets the challenge requirements then post your make to flickr. This month’s challenge was determined by GidaStudio and had to be inspired by food. My make was actually inspired by the link to HeatherB’s blog where Heather made a cake that inspired her dress. I happened to have some black and red floral fabric in my stash and the Miz Mozelle pattern on my “to sew” list so I went for it. As you can see, I not only made a similar dress, but also a similar cake. Thanks Heather for the floral icing tip!
Now onto the pattern review…
This was the first time sewing a Jamie Christina pattern so I am a bit late to the party. Most of her offerings are not my style but the Miz Mozelle dress seemed like the perfect pattern to pair with my fabric. The fabric is some sort of rayon blend I bought at Hancock’s awhile back. I think I originally planned to use it for my Mad Men Challenge dress but opted for a vintage cotton sateen in psychedelic colors instead. The pattern had to be graded up quite a bit but the fit of the dress is relatively forgiving so it wasn’t much of a problem.
The instructions were well written and clear. The only issue I ran into was sewing the keyhole. I must have stretched the fabric and bias tape too much when stitching because I could not ever get the bottom part of the loop to lay flat. I finally ended up stitching the bottom closed so that it formed more of a “V” instead of an oval.
The waist is not fitted but instead utilizes a casing and elastic. The pattern called for 1/4″ braided elastic but I opted for 3/4″ non-roll elastic instead. This did cause the casing to be much more obvious but distributes the gathers better in my opinion. I also did not make the sash but plan to use a black elastic belt I already had. I tried it both with and without the belt and like it either way. I will definitely be making this dress again but perhaps in a solid color.
