Hey guys! This past week, I decided to sew a slightly more elegant style of dress! As it’s getting a little colder here in Berlin, I was feeling a dress that had sleeves.

Choosing the pattern

I’ve seen so many amazing makes from Marsha Style’s sewing patterns and have had my eye on her Sia dress for a while! It is a gorgeous deep v neckline pattern that has front bust pleats and a fitted waist. I really loved the look of this dress and a lot of her patterns are very versatile. 

Choosing the fabric

I wanted to create this dress in a floaty fabric that would feel easy wearing and still look stylish. Fabriclore gifted me this gorgeous hand blocked banana cotton that is very soft and wears beautifully. Their sustainable fabrics are artisan made and truly give such great quality. I like the hand-blocked printing technique on this fabric because it feels more personal and special. I decided to choose this bright mustard orange piece with a red pattern detail. If you’d like 10% off your order at Fabriclore use my personalised discount code FABTAMMY

Construction

I cut out a size 6 of the pattern and decided to make the unlined version of dress B. Putting the pattern together was really easy and I found the instructions well explained and easy to use. I knew I wanted to make view B of the dress as it incorporated a puff sleeve detail with an elasticated hem,  which I feel creates such a pretty touch! I emitted the front button placket because it’s more of a decorative feature as there is a back zip. I also decided to remove the sleeve head pillow because I was going for a sleeker look. 

Overall, the fit of the pattern is really great and really shows off my waist. I think this is because of the clever front bust pleats that creates volume and then the waistband creates such a lovely feature of the waist. I am crazy over the deep v neckline and love that I left it super deep. You can add a hook and eye closure to make it not so deep, but you know me… I love a deep v! The only thing I had, was that the waist is like 1/2″ too tight, it looks amazing on but I think I just need to loosen the waist ever so slightly. I can’t recommend this pattern enough, I know i’ll make this more in the future.