Simplicity 2444

As promised, here is the second full-skirted frock for my daughter.  This is Simplicity 2444, from their Project Runway line, and I'm very pleased with it.  The pattern is well drafted, came together very easily, and I like the combination of the four (front) bodice darts and the gentle pleats of the skirt.

I made a size 12, but added 1" in length to the bodice, 1/4" to the side seams, and 7" to the skirt length (we are tall people!).  I wound up trimming 1-3/4" off the skirt length, and gave it a 1" hem using my blindstitch hem foot.  It falls just below the knee.

The fabric is a stretch woven from Fabric.com, purchased in April for $4.98 per yard.  DD and I love, love, love the print and the colors.

The neckline and sleeves are bound in the fashion fabric, and I used an invisible zipper.  To mark the darts and pleats, I used my new erasable gel pens.  Have you tried these?  I love them!  Of course, I tested them on a scrap of the fabric first!  Use a hot iron on the marks, and they disappear like magic!

DD tried on the dress before it was hemmed, and the skirt provides plenty of room for her (temporary) leg brace.  She likes the comfort of the stretch woven fabric, and says the dress will be perfect for the classroom.  Yay!  The best compliment for me, though, is that she'd like more versions!  Next time, I will only add 1/2" to the bodice length and remove the 1/4" I added to the side seams--if I make it in a stretch woven.  In a regular woven, I'll still lengthen the bodice by 1/2" and I'll try leaving the 1/4" (at the side seams) to give her a little more ease.  I'll leave the skirt with the extra inches I added, although if I hadn't lengthened the skirt so much, I probably could've cut the front skirt on the fold to eliminate the center front seam--maybe next time.

You can see she has plenty of room in the bodice--perfect on a hot, hot day in a classroom filled with sweaty teenagers, but for going out, she'd like the bodice a little more fitted. 

Do you have any tricks for sewing stretch wovens?  Have you found a good source of them?

Until next time...
Happy sewing! ~ Peggy