The Angie

There appears to have been quite a buzz on the sewing interwebs regarding the Sis Boom Angie dress pattern. 

Sewists new and old have been touting the quick and easy construction and flattering design. 

Having had this pattern in my stash for quite some while -and feeling a need for some summery dresses- I thought I'd give it a go.

I give you the end result:

A lot of breeze in this pic and holding the phone (with my Samsung camera remote app) in my pocket, kinda obvious eh?

Back view- elasticized back waist, a bit hard to tell from this pic. And pockets!!!

Square on shot (in a kids room as no full length mirror elsewhere *sigh*). This is how I like to think it would look. Reasonably flattering me thinks!

This dress was the "mock up" using some (quite bright) on sale craft fabric after making a calico fitting toile.

Going off my measurements and the pattern size guide I made a 1X (16-18W). As my bust point was significantly lower (about an inch) than that of the pattern I lengthened in that area (between shoulder and bust point). 

I took about 3/8" off at the bodice hemline to make sure the waist sat in the right spot (thanks Alison for pointing that out in the initial pics!). 

The only other significant change I made was to increase the seam allowance on the bottom of the bodice/top of the skirt from 1/4" to 3/8". (Mainly because the fabric was quite loosely woven for a quilting cotton and frayed like all heck, making it very hard to gather accurately on a 1/4" seam allowance). 

My normal preference for sewing is at least 3/8" to 5/8" seam allowance so this was a bit of adjustment for me generally pattern wise.

 I can see why 1/4" is a good idea for bias bound areas (neckline and armholes) but am not so sure about using it for side and waist seams.

In addition I ended up sewing the bodice side seams at the 5/8" mark as  the original 1/4" seam allowance appeared too "blousey" on me (personal fit preference). 

I also made the back elastic significantly shorter than suggested and brought it past the side seams further towards the front (about an inch) on each side, to give a more fitted look.

There was one part of the pattern that gave me a bit of consternation; the bust darts. No matter what I did I could not get the bottom of the bodice to make a clean line when matching up the dart lines.

 It was only when looking at the paper pattern - and folding the dart in- that I realised that one dart leg was longer than the other, resulting in an uneven bodice hem once the darts were sewn. 

Folding down from the bust point (crap photo I know) the bottom dots and bodice edge do not match.

I did email the pattern designer, who suggested that I trim the bodice bottom to make it even. I made a toile up of the next size down (XL) and this did not occur, so am guessing that maybe it might only be an issue with this size (1X) or the plus sizes? Have not heard back as to whether this might be something that will be fixed at some stage.

In the end- for a "tester/mock up" garment -this dress has already gotten a lot of wear in my wardrobe on a everyday basis (once I got over the bright print). 

As a bonus I have got quite a lot of compliments on it too ! 

Woo-hoo!

In all earnest I can see why this has been such a popular pattern (even with dart issue and my dislike of overall 1/4" seam allowance). The style is flattering and - thanks to the lack of zips/closures- easy to sew. The instructions are in depth and generous making them very helpful to the newbie sewer (though a bit redundant if you are confident with pattern sewing/garment construction). 

Plus you do end up with a finished wearable garment in a seriously short amount of time (would be even shorter if you use a overlocker/serger).

I've already sewn up another Angie, stay tuned for pics!

**Update: you can read my review for the Angie dress on sewing.patternreview.com here**

Til next time...

Happy Sewing!

Kate xx