A Zadie Dress from a NeedleSharp Kit

At the close of PR Weekend last month, I was given this wonderful NeedleSharp sewing box. It included the Zadie Dress pattern from Tilly & The Buttons, and also includes all the material and notions needed to make the largest size offered in the pattern. It's a great deal! And did you know, Needle-Sharp Kits were even recently featured in British Vogue? Sewing is so cool :)

At NeedleSharp there are three different levels for each round of offerings -- you can pick the pattern and fabric you'd like in your box, and receive this beautifully packaged kit with everything you need to assemble your outfit. You might even have some fabric left over to make into another little something when you're done. 

Hey look - I opened it up and the presentation is just lovely! It's carefully wrapped in tissue, and includes a thank you note, a tag to sew in to your make when you're done, the appropriate needles and in this case also the clear elastic recommended in the pattern,  plus fabric and thread. And also a nice big layout schematic!

The kit was a real treat, and the box is sturdy and very handy for keeping the leftover fabric and pattern in -- I have it all tucked away now for my next go round of this pattern! Since Tilly uses heavy paper for her patterns, I chose to trace my size, so those pattern pieces are now neatly tucked away in the box as well. It fits on a shelf in my sewing space and keeps it all tidy and together. I like!

And now on to the dress itself!

I hadn't thought of making this pattern previously - I'm not sure why, as dresses, and especially dresses with big pockets, are right in my wheelhouse!

But with this offer, and the wonderful, quality knits included, I knew I had to get to work on this dress. It was fairly simple to sew up; I put it together on a Sunday afternoon with only one break. The hardest parts were keeping the points matched up, and that blasted neckband! I never can apply a neckband properly, no matter how many times I try. It's always too long or too short and I have puckering on either the band or the dress. Well, after the third try here, I told myself the tiny gathers on the front edge and back neck were good enough and just went with it!

excuse the funny expression - the sun was so bright I was just trying to keep my eyes open!

I had a few problems -- I wasn't sure if I should use size 5 or 6 for the bodice (though clearly 6 on the waist/skirt). So I cut 6 but now have to go back and take the side seams in by 1/2" on either side -- so I guess next time I know it's more a 5 for me! At least that is an easy fix. I also found that matching the pocket points was a little fussy, and I'm not 100% happy with them. I think I'll probably go back and finesse those as well. But it is still super wearable as it is, and I wore it happily to work on Monday!

I love the way it fits - it just floats over the body and was super comfortable even at the 30+ weather yesterday. I know some people have mentioned that the pleats are not a favourite feature, especially on the back, but I think that bit of extra "float" factor in the back helps with my figure. I like them. Looking at this picture I can see that I'll have to take some width or length out of the upper back next go round as well, but again, still very wearable as is.

So my judgement is that getting this all together as a kit was a different experience - I'm not used to someone else selecting fabric for me! But I loved the process and having everything ready there for me. Everything is high quality and it is nice to start a project without worrying that you've forgot some vital notion.

This is a super comfortable dress to wear with some nice design lines, and those massive pockets are worth the whole thing :) There are lots of wonderful examples on Instagram of this dress made in many different fabric and colour choices - very inspirational - so check them out.