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Simplicity 8380 - One-shoulder dress


I am very happy with the results of Simplicity 8380!


I wanted a quick sew for a black-tie optional wedding that I was attending with my husband but I only had a month to put something together and I sew very slowly!

I also wanted something that wasn't so fancy that I wouldn't be able to wear it again. How many black-tie events are you going to? I think this was my first one ever! I was glad to be able to lean into the "optional" a little bit, hopefully without being under-dressed.

Since I wanted something fast but simple, I set out to find a one shoulder dress that was for a knit pattern. One shoulder seems fancy, right? Right?!?

To make the dress, I chose a black on black cheetah print from Cali Fabrics. I had ordered from them recently and loved everything but I was disappointed when this fabric arrived. The cheetah print was much more pronounced looking online, whereas it was basically a slightly textured black when it arrived. Oh well. I used it anyway because I was on a time crunch.

I debated a lot about making it floor length so it was more formal but in the end decided to go with cocktail length so I could wear it more easily later.

Alterations I made
The fit on this was pretty easy.

I made my bust size (14) and graded out. Normally I slope out and it's very straight forward. Since this dress had the midriff piece, I decided to cut and adjust from top to bottom as I sewed. So I did the bodice and the fitted it to my dress form, then adjusted the midriff piece (graded larger) and sewed that on the bodice and then adjusted the skirt based on how those first pieces were fitting on my dress form.

Adjusted bodice piece. Purple is original and blue & red are adjusted.
Since there wasn't enough room on the tissue to make my alterations, I traced it on to bee paper that I bought on Amazon. It worked well, it's a little thicker than the tissue pattern but I could easily see the original lines on the pattern through the paper. I used my trusty French curve to help with my alterations.

This is kind of an ass-backwards process but in this case it worked well for me.
Top and midriff pinned on my dress form to check fit.
I also took out one of the pockets. I know, what is wrong with me? Well, honestly I was concerned about bulk around the side zipper but I also put it on wrong and was on a time crunch so I was like alright, one pocket is good for a formal dress. Yeah it's weird maybe but one pocket is better than nothing.

I also added 6 inches(!) to the length of the dress. Even if you use the dress length on the pattern pieces it is really, really short. Notice the longest finished back length on the pattern piece is 34 1/4 inches. I usually like my dressed to be 38in at least as I'm 5'8". By adding 6 inches, I ended up with a knee length dress.
Dog helper, she's an excellent pattern weight.
Ease of construction
This dress was a breeze to put together. It turned out like the pattern envelope and I found the directions very clear.

The only parts that I found difficult were:
  1. The fold over binding around the armhole and the neckline. I generally find this finishing technique to be challenging to execute, and this time was no exception but it's not any more difficult than any other project that calls for this type of finish.
  2. The zipper side pocket. I thought that the lining pieces were applied in the same way on both sides but they aren't, this is how I ended up doing it wrong and having only one pocket. I kind of glanced at how I was supposed to the zipper side pocket but I didn't have a lot of time so I didn't pay that much attention - you'll probably be fine!

Overall
I felt like this was stylish enough that I wasn't under-dressed at a very fancy wedding but also that I could wear it again to something less formal - exactly what I was looking for!

This was a great project and I could see myself making this again. Perhaps I'll make the top version in the future.

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