That's a wrap!

Pattern: Simplicity 2549 (View A with C sleeves)

Size: 14

Fabric: Cotton from Freelance Fabrics

I love wrap dresses, they are classically feminine, but I think most girls will agree that they are problematic to wear; always trying to fall open at the front, and flash too much leg when you sit down, etc. So this Simplicity pattern is a saviour with its faux wrap front giving the pretty look with none of the bother!

Look, flowers in the garden!

The dress was easy to make with some nice shaping features including gathering at the bust, and pleats on the skirt giving it a nice, structured silhouette. The inside is quite sweet as well - the pattern includes a midriff panel facing meaning that the joins between bodice and midriff, and midriff and skirt are enclosed.

The only changes I made were the usual replacing neckline facing with bias binding (also used to hem sleeves), and I inserted some darts in the back neckline to reduce the gape I always seem to end up with. Oh, and the zip was supposed to be lapped, but that excellent midriff facing meant there were quite a number of layers and I therefore wasn't convinced by how well the lapped zip would work. So I did a normal one. Whatever the technical term for that is! It shows, but I picked a funky bright blue to go with the dress so I don't mind one bit.

The pattern has a few different versions, all of which look like quite different beasts, and therefore I'm definitely tempted to try another one or two. Bargain!

As I mentioned in a previous post, it was my birthday recently, and my lovely friends bought me the totally inspired and really touching gift of my own One Crafty Minx sew-in labels! Even in the colours of my blog :-) And this is the first dress to receive one. Cute, huh?

There is a secondary meaning behind today's cheesy blog title: last weekend I made my adult acting debut in an episode of the excellent radio play Action Science Theatre!  Episode 11 will be appearing soon, and while you're there, check out some of the other chuckle-inspiring episodes all available to download from the website.