Black & White Linen Dress

This summer I've been remaking many garments that I made last year when I first started sewing my own clothes.  I picked up easy sewing patterns from the "Learning To Sew" series that Simplicity has, like this Simplicity 2147 dress.  Many of these pieces that I sewed needed major tweaks and I learned something new about sewing with each one. 

This first time I sewed this was view C, the 3/4 sleeves tunic.  I remember that I used a silky floral type fabric that I picked up from the clearance table at Joann's.  It was the first time I tried sewing pleats and also sewing bias tape to a neck line.  Needless to say, that top was donated to Goodwill as it was too big, the wrong fabric, and had a wonky neckline.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw this dress made with eyelet and wanted to do something similar.  Unfortunately Joann's did not have an eyelet fabric that I loved, however I ended up finding this beautiful linen/rayon blend fabric.  It has a really pretty black floral print that, to me, has kind of a vintage/boho feel.

This time around, I loved sewing this dress.  The fabric choice was perfect, the neck binding looks awesome and the fit it great.  I sewed up view B in size 12.  I added an inch on the length of the dress, as this is labeled a "mini dress" but this is how mini I'll get.  I hemmed only 1/4 inch on the bottom.  I did not make a belt since I love the dress without it.  I really like the shift dress style of this garment with something as simple as pleats to add a little interest.