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Dress Up Party – Pattern Review – Simplicity 1161

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This post is part of Dress Up Party. For contest rules, full details, and schedule, please click here!
Today’s post is from Shundra of Mrs. Crafty Chick.

So the inspiration for  this dress came from a photo ( forgive me for being unable to locate it ) of two girls with these beautiful peasant/boho dresses. I instantly fell in love and knew that I wanted to sew it ! My style is more on the easy, breezy, flowing, earthy,dainty,neutral…( cant think of any more adjectives) end , so this type dress was right up my alley !

The next challenge was locating a pattern to recreate the look and finding the perfect fabric. My search began with patterns … it didnt take me long to find  a pattern that was very close to the look I was aiming for !

The pattern that I decided on was Simplicity 1161
 When I saw the pattern the only part that I knew I would really USE was the sleeve part , everything else would need to be altered. Next was the task of finding the perfect fabric … I knew what the fabric looked like that I wanted but didn’t know the name . After doing a little research online most people suggested using chiffon but I knew that would be a bit to sheer for my liking .  I ended up asking a older seamstress at my school and she told me that the fabric I was looking for was wrinkle gauze , I FLEW TO THE FABRIC STORE !  Once I got to Hancock I realized that it was called Gauze fabric .
I bought 6 yards (enough for two dresses) and dashed for the door ….
Alterations : 
I kept the top section the same but I wanted to make it one piece without the divisions so I lined the top , middle and bottom section pieces under each other on the fold to get the length , I then added 3″ to THAT length.
I measured out 13″ from the bottom length ( that I had marked), this gave me a nice loose fit . Next I drew a line from the bottom of the TOP pattern piece all the way down to the 13″ line I had drawn out. I then went back and traced out the TOP bodice piece onto my fabric . I did the same procedure for the back piece . When I finished instead of having three piece divided by trim I only had one front piece and one back piece !
On the sleeves I kept the construction as noted in the pattern but omitted the trim in the middle , instead I added lace trim to the bottom of each sleeve . I used a larger lace on mine and a smaller one on my daughters .
After I finished construction of the dress I decided  to add lace to the bottom of mine … I LOVED IT!

 

 

The two dresses turned out better than I had envisioned !
Although I altered the pattern the instructions where very clear and easy to follow .
I love how they both turned out !!
Until Next Time XOXOXO

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7 thoughts on “Dress Up Party – Pattern Review – Simplicity 1161

  1. lucilledupuis says:

    Lovely! Perfect for garden parties, if they have those any more. I hope your daughter has inherited your sewing gene.

    1. Thank you ! She is actually a artist

  2. Logan Mack says:

    Gorgeous. Thanks for the review. I adore those dresses. Just bought the pattern.

  3. Allison says:

    Super cute! You’re lucky you have a daughter willing to wear something similar to what you are wearing! that stopped in my house around that age:)

  4. Christina says:

    Just beautiful

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