The I.T. Dress: Simplicity 1419

I had cut out this pattern -- the Lisette Simplicity 1419 -- in April but got distracted by other projects, like my Cambie and the Simplicity Jiffy reversible dress. But I've finally got back to this one and finished this week, staying up late to finish the hem so I could wear it the next day (actually I cheated on the hem and instead of hand stitching as originally planned I just used some Steam-A-Seam. Don't tell...)

This is the dress for which I cut out a skirt lining from a pink sheet, which was the instigator of my recent reversible Simplicity dress. I added underlining because this dotted fabric, while cute, was also quite see-through if I was standing in any kind of light. I love the underlining -- it makes the skirt stand out crisply and hold its shape. It also makes it less likely to blow up scandalously in a strong wind, as I discovered to my relief when I wore it this week!

A look at my Steam-A-Seamed hem, which
allowed me to press it up right over the
underlining  and even gather slightly to keep it
nice and  straight-hanging from the outside.

This dress fabric is a recycled sheet I found at the Goodwill recently, I think it's another IKEA branded one. Good quality cotton -- it has a light, crisp hand, and is quite solid, in the sense that I had to be careful with pins -- it resisted any slightly dull pins and didn't want to recover from any pin or stitching holes. That quality gives it a nice polished appearance though.

Fitted but with room to move comfortably

Back view. So close to
being perfectly lined up

I call this dress my "I.T." dress -- the dots look just like those buffering circles that spin every time you're waiting for your computer to do something! I was extremely pleased to find that the dots had lined up exactly at the front waist, except that it's more of an oval than a circle, but hey, it is pretty close :)

Centred dots!

I like the pockets, the collar, the shape of the bodice, the pleats -- I like all of this one. The only changes I made were small fitting ones, like shortening the bodice by 1/2", although I do wish now I'd have shortened the back bodice by another 1/2". It does feel like it sags a little in the back waist, sadly. Not enough to stop me from wearing it, but I know it could be better.

I also lengthened the sleeves -- mostly so that I could cut them on the preexisting deep hem of the sheet and have halfway self-lined sleeves with no extra effort. I also ended up taking off the button loop at the front and just leaving this open as a V (which I had shortened by 1/2 " so it wasn't so deep). When I had a button on and had it closed up, it looked just too frumpy on me -- funny how one tiny thing like that can change the look completely.

Close up of neckline - you can also see
my perfectly matched earrings here too!

This is the first Lisette pattern I've used, and I really like it. I thought that the collar might be a little too much, but as it turns out I love it, and it was the element that most people commented on when I first wore it.

The pattern was very easy to follow, with well written instructions and techniques that are simple enough even for a beginner sewist who is looking for a bit more of a challenge than a 'very easy' dress. The pattern also includes a little jacket that looks like it could be interesting too -- perhaps I'll try it eventually.

I enjoyed wearing this very bright dress on a rather blustery day. It brightened my mood as well as my wardrobe!