Seamwork Arden

I had some struggles coming up with what to make for this challenge.  I wanted to make a pattern I hadn’t made before and I had SO MANY CHOICES!  My main goal was to find something lightweight and airy to wear in this terrible Seattle heat (yeah, yeah, 80 isn’t all that hot, but don’t forget that most of us here don’t have A/C in our homes!)

So, I decided to make a Seamwork Arden out of this lovely orange and navy paisley lawn from Girl Charlee.  I thought the Arden had a nice retro flair that fit with the fabric nicely.  Plus it doesn’t have any kind of closures, so that means a quick make!

I made a straight size 16 to match my bust size so that I didn’t have to bother with an FBA.  My only design modifications to this dress were to shorten the sleeves and add in-seam pockets so that I can carry my phone with me!

I made a small fit modification of taking in the two center front darts to add a little more shaping and to not tent quite as straight down.  I’m not 100% sure I sewed the darts correctly in the first place since I’m terrible about actually marking my fabric pieces.  But I took each of those darts approximately 1/2″ deeper at the waist line, tapering out to nothing at the top and a few inches from the bottom of the darts.

I’m very pleased with how this dress came out.  I have a few more details and photos on my blog, Clothing Hacker.