Sew Chic Tia Dress

To brighten up this dreary day, a sunny floral dress!

I absolutely fell in love when I saw this version of the Tia Dress Pattern from Sew Chic. 

Look how bright she looks in all that fog!  It's like a ray of flowery sunshine!

The pattern back from Sew Chic

I loved everything, the vintage cut, the large florals, the sweetheart neckline.  So, of course, I had to make my own version!  I already had some lovely, similar cotton floral in my stash from Fabric.com with bias tape from JoAnn Fabric.  I did decide to slightly stray from my inspiration, so instead of using red as the contrast, I used turqoise.

Here's my version!

The Front of the Dress.

I learned a little too late that Sew Chic's sizing includes very little, if any, wearing ease!  I cut out the size I measured out to, which was about a 4.  I ended up having to take out both side seams at least a quarter of an inch.  It still looks darling on, but now I know to pay attention next time I sew a Sew Chic pattern!

The Back of the Dress

Detail of the Front

Interestingly, even though the dress as a whole was a bit too small, the bust pieces had to be taken in.  What I mean is the two seams that split each boob in half had to be taken in.  It was fairly easy to do and not completely unexpected for my endearingly boyish figure.  

Pocket Detail

 I really enjoy the pockets, but putting on the blue bias tape absolutely mystified me.  I don't know if I was just having a blonde moment or what, but I could not figure it out for the life of me.  I ended up doing one pocket and then finally realized what I did wrong.  Oh well!

Detail of sleeve

 The the sleeves were a little too small, too.  Once again, if I had made a larger size...

Detail of the zipper

I have to admit, this zipper has brought me no honor.  Obviously, not my finest work.  To be fair, I'm pretty sure both my sewing machine and fabric had a vendetta against me the day I tried to put it in.  Nothing was cooperating!  And I hate regular zippers (INVISIBLE ZIPPERS FOR LYFE, YO). And my fabric was probably a little too thick (it was almost canvas weight).  What can I say, I lived, I learned.

Overall, I would still recommend this pattern for those of us who actually read directions (unlike my lovely, direction-skipping self).  It turned out beautifully despite all the errors on my part.  Make sure to take into account the amount of ease you have and don't use fabric that's too thick!

Until next time!

The Gretchen