Terrace Dress in Rainforest Print

I believe that this Terrace Dress had the fastest rate of completion of anything I've ever made! And by that I mean that from clicking on 'order' at Liesl & Co during their summer sale, through downloading, printing, assembling, tracing, cutting and sewing, all the way to wearing it for these pictures, was one week. I usually let patterns marinate in my stash for much longer than that before getting to them!

But I had this thrifted cotton sateen fabric in the pile of plans for this month, originally with a different pattern. I decided to change patterns, as the large scale print of this fabric really needed as few seams as possible, and definitely not a centre front seam like my original choice had. So I settled on the Terrace which was fortunately on sale, since none of my 500 current patterns seemed just right! I just had to use this fabric right away -- it matches my thrifted shoes perfectly ;)

It is a really solid design. Easy to understand, good instructions & illustrations, and a simple make -- no closures at all, but a little more fitted in the bodice thanks to some darts, and two belt options. I always think that if a dress fits in the shoulder/bust area, you can get away with any other fullness, as it still looks like it fits you. This one is perfect for that.

I shortened it quite a lot. I took 1/2" up above the waist, and another 4" out of the length. I wanted it to hit right at the knee. I might add another inch back at the hem if I make it again, though, since wearing the belt shortens it again just a little.

I also took some advice from a PatternReview review, and measured the pocket placement before proceeding. The pockets were indeed quite low, so I bumped the placement up by 2". That seemed to work for me. Another tip was to hem the sleeve prior to sewing the sides together, since the angle at the underarm makes it hard to hem neatly afterward -- I went ahead and did that and the finish is just fine at the underarm even though I don't usually like to leave seams open like that. Much easier to do it flat, for sure!

One more change I made was to interface one side of the large central panel of the belt. I thought it might need a little more support. I used lightweight interfacing since my fabric is already a bit heavier than some of the drapier options recommended. When I finished the belt I really wasn't sure I'd like it. I have a short waist and looking at it I thought I should have narrowed the large central section by an inch or two. But when I put it on it turns out I actually like it a fair bit the way it is!

The best thing is that this dress works both trim and neat with the belt, and without it as more of a shift silhouette. It was close to 40 Celsius on Friday when I wore this first so I left off the belt for more airflow ;)

 I really like this pattern. The shape is comfortable, the sewing is straightforward, it has pockets and wearing options, and the sleeves don't pull at all. Lots of potential here. I'm glad I bought it.

Am I looking distracted here? If you look into the far distance you will see our neighbourhood
rabbit under the trees at the back of the yard. I was trying to give photo directions without scaring it!