A Completed Simplicity 2444

Simplicity 2444

Hello, all you blog readers!  If you stopped by today hoping to read about something that I have made, you are in luck.  As you may have noticed, my blogging was a bit sparse last week.  I have been busy, and in what little free time I had, instead of blogging I was sewing.

retro style dress

Simplicity 2444 (back view)

This dress, so much easier than I could have expected.  And I made it with no necessary seam ripping at all.  I say necessary, because I did seam rip the shoulders after it was done thinking it would solve the small problem of the gaping neck, but then immediately undid that and went back to how I originally had it.  So the seam ripping was unnecessary, and really only took a little bit of my time, so little in fact that it really wasn’t worth mentioning, but I did anyway.

The details:  It is from the Simplicity 2444 pattern that I have been wanting to make for a while now.  My material was a cotton print from fabric.com and ended up being the perfect choice.  I don’t usually give this color a second look, but since I just loved the print when I came across it online, I thought it was fine time to add a light blue item to my wardrobe.  Maybe blue is more my color than I originally thought…

Simplicity 2444 pleated dress

My favorite details about this dress are the pleats and the bodice darts.  I love how the sloped look accentuates the waistline.  I shouldn’t tell you all, but I did mess up the front skirt pleats a bit.  The center front ones should be touching each other so that the center front seam in not so visible at the waist, but I accidentally folded the pleats on the wrong side of the fabric.  When I noticed my mistake, I quickly inverted them, but ended up with my folds on the wrong lines.  It wasn’t until after I had the whole front of the dress sewed together that I realized this mistake.  It looked fine, so I didn’t feel the need to do anything about it.  Hopefully, my next dress will have the pleats how they are supposed to be.

The fit was perfect, well, almost.  I sized down right away, but then thought maybe I was in trouble when I got the front done.  It seemed the waistline was gonna be a little snug.  So instead of the 5/8″ seam allowance, I went with 1/4″ for the side seams.  It was perfect!  I was short a little on fabric also, so I manipulated the skirt portion to fit and it ended up not as full as it should have been, but one would never tell.  I read some reviews about this dress beforehand, so I knew this was a very full skirt, and cutting a bit from the side wouldn’t be a problem.  I made it with only 2 and 1/2 yards of fabric when the pattern calls for almost 3, yay!

Oh, no! What is wrong with the neckline?
Oh, no! What is wrong with the neckline?

Now, for what I didn’t like about the dress.  The neckline gaped.  This bugged, but what was I to do since I was pretty much done at this point?  I just jumped into the dress without making a muslin  (I don’t have time for muslins; I want a dress on the first try!).  Well, usually my solution is to take in the back center seam by undoing the zipper.  This time, I went with google first.  It seemed a couple of neckline darts might do the trick, and they worked out alright for me.  It was a very quick addition and I am happy with how it looked.  Although, now that I am done with this dress, I am gonna trace the bodice on another piece of tissue paper and using some online tutorials, try to cut that excess out of it, so that my next version won’t have the added back darts.

darts to fix a gaping neckline
the darts that saved the dress

Simplicity 2444 completed (back view)

Simplicity 2444 (neck gape fixed)

So there you have it, a look at my newest me-made dress, and more than you probably wanted to know about what I thought of it.  I am thinking to start submitting my reviews to the Pattern Review site.  I have found it to be a great resource for sewing opinions, and since I have sewing opinions of my own, why not.

Thanks for reading.  I should have something non-sewing related for you all next time.  🙂

Have a great week, everyone.

Linking up with:  Tuesday’s With a Twist, Do Tell Tuesday, Passion for Fashion, Simple Sequins, and Inspiring Wednesday.

Lil' Mrs. Tori

31 Replies to “A Completed Simplicity 2444”

  1. Love them! The fabric is wonderful and the pattern looks to be perfectly fitting. Need to buy this pattern and try them as well 🙂

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    1. Thanks! The bodice may be one of my most used these days. I just love the darts! You definitely should pick one up; I bet you will love it as well.

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    1. I might need to take one of those classes as well. I can follow directions all right, but sometimes those patterns have me stumped. Good thing for google. 🙂
      And, thank you!

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  11. Gorgeous dress! The fit looks very nice on you 🙂

    By the way, I have a new post on the blog. I’d love for you to check it out & let me know what you think

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    1. In the past a few neckline issues have come up, but I never thought to ask google. I’ve just taken them in here and there until I run the risk of messing it all up. I am so happy about this fix, because I really like the dress. 🙂

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  16. My second favourite colour after navy blue? Baby blue, I even got married in it 🙂 This looks lovely on you, definitely a colour you should wear more often. Matches the design really well too.

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    1. Thank you, Marci. I hope that the tip will help you sometime in the future. I always adjusted at the zipper, but I probably won’t be doing that anymore. I find the fit gets all out of whack when I do start taking it in from there. These darts worked really well. Now, hopefully I can cut and slash at the right places on the pattern to make this whole gaping think go away for good. 🙂

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