Juliette dress

When Suz from Sewpony and Jill from Kneesocks and Goldilocks introduced the Juliette dress and top pattern that they have been working on together, I knew I wanted to sew it. And I knew I wanted to hack it a little (although it seems I ended up hacking it considerably). The pattern is aimed at a beginner sewist. It is a cute simple A-line dress with rather charming details. It looks super sweet as is, and it can be easily customised.

The most noticeable change is that I omitted the neck ruffle.

Instead of finishing the neckline with the bias tape I created facings. I simply added seam allowance to the neckline of the front and two back dress pieces and drafted facings using existing pattern pieces.

I used the faux placket piece provided in the pattern, but widened and shortened it slightly using the buttons I wanted to use as a guide. I cut one pattern piece for the placket and interfaced it before sewing home-made piping on it.

The idea of half-circle shaped pockets was born as soon as I saw the pattern drawing. The pattern offers pieces for in-seam pockets. All I had to do was to find a cup of a right size to create a half-circle opening. Yeah I am so high tech!

I used the pocket pieces in the same size as the rest of the dress pieces. I will use larger sized pocket pieces next time I do this to ensure the pockets are deeper and actually look like a cool feature rather than an afterthought. I mean the pockets are still cute as they are, but they would have looked so much nicer if the openings were bigger!

Of course I had to use contrasting fabric for the pockets. And piping, naturally :)

Miss L was very excited when she realised she could collect treasures (aka leaves, grass and little stones) in her pockets.

The original pattern offers a button and a loop or ties closure. I decided to replace them with a button placket. I love the playful feel the bright contrasting buttons create.

The dress is made from gorgeous corduroy I recently purchased from Spotlight. Blue accent fabric is from my vintage stash. It feels like linen/cotton blend. I used yellow cotton to make piping. I have a small collection of plain coloured fabrics just for this purpose.

Miss L has already wore her Juliette dress out and about a couple of times. She looked so adorable in it and what is very important, she appeared comfortable while getting into all sorts of mischief!

The Juliette dress and top pattern is now available for purchase from Sewpony shop. Please feel free to use the code DRESSEDINSEWPONY to receive 10% off any Sewpony pattern. The code is valid until the 2nd of June 2017.

Suz just recently announced her first sewing contest - Dressed in sewpony. There are two categories, Australian and International, and two prize pools. The prized are amazing! I have a privilege to be one of the judges for the Aussie category. I would love to see your creations added to the contest!

Suz and Jill invited amazingly talented and creative ladies to participate in the pattern tour. Feel free to visit them to see how they interpreted the pattern.

8 May:Lily en Woody, While she was sleeping, 

Elegance + Elephants, Petrol + Mint

9 May: Giddyants, Fairies, Bubbles + Co, Sew Shelly Sew, 

Sweet Red Poppy

10 May: Bel'Etoile, Pear Berry Lane, Little Cumquat, 

Compagnie M

11 May: Coffee and Thread, Just Add Fabric, Sweeter than Cupcakes, Do Guincho

12 May: Minnie Mie, Creative Needle and Threads, 

My Petite Sophie, Chalk + Notch, my cozy co