Simplicity 1419 Round Trip Dress: A Wearable Muslin

Earlier in the month I posted about my Simplicity 1419 Round Trip Jacket. I like the look of the dress included in this pattern just as much as the jacket and have plans to make one from some beautiful Japanese cotton from Tessuti. But first, I decided to make a wearable muslin dress out of some fabric scraps to check the fit.

The design of this dress is actually very similar to the Emery dress but with a pleated rather than a gathered skirt, and a front neckline slit and button. I made version B which is sleeveless and has a peter pan collar. I cut a size 12 grading out to a size 14 from the waist onwards.

For the fabrics I used a left over Japanese lawn from Spotlight for the bodice and pockets, and leftover navy broadcloth for the skirt and collar. I used these fabrics last year to make my sister and I BHL Polly Tops. The broadcloth wrinkles like crazy but I love the two contrasting fabrics together.  I made the dress following the instructions precisely and made no adaptions to the pattern (other than grading). I found the neckline a little confusing  as the facing and front bodice are cut without the neckline slit. The slit is cut into the neckline after you sew the facing to the bodice in a diagonal shape with the two sides meeting at a centre front point. It seemed a little confusing at first, but the instructions were spot on. Next time I wont doubt the instructions.

The dress came together very quickly. The bodice has neckline facings and uses binding for the arm hole finishing's but you could easily use the bodice pieces to line it instead. I overlocked all the edges to finish the dress.

I love the final dress, but now have an idea of the changes I want to make for the second version. I definitely need to take some length off the bodice so that the waist sits a little higher. Maybe just half an inch. My next version probably wont have a collar so I hope the neckline doesn't look/feel too high without it. I can always lower it a little.

I just got my hair cut after making this dress. I hate getting my hair in my face so I decided to make a matching headscarf using Bluegingerdoll's free PDF pattern. The pattern is just a glorified rectangle with rounded edges but it was late and it was easier to follow the pattern than take my head measurements etc. I made it double sided to match the dress and I wear it folded over. I think I'll make a few more in different colours.

This is how I actually wore the dress today (sans Jacket). Winter has really set in now. Apologies for more indoor shots but there's not much I can do with the very shorts days we're having. I have some more makes I'll try and get photographed on the weekend outside.