Simplicity 2444 has many variations inlcuding a shawl collar and a big bow on the front.  I went with the simple lines of the plain dress.

On first glance upon cutting the tissue paper I thought the bodice of this was going to be funky so I made a muslin.  Did you hear that?  I MADE A MUSLIN!  Sorry for the shouting, but usually I just cut straight to the chase, cut my fashion fabric and hope for the best! 

This pattern I could tell for sure it wasn’t going to fit and boy was I right.

Check out that neck, crazy big,  Even cutting a smaller size and doing an FBA wasn’t going to fix that hot mess.

To fix this, I made a dart on the neck and then pivoted it to one of the darts at the waist.



I did a tissue fit instead of another muslin and decided to forge ahead.


I had some help with the cutting out 😉


I am super happy with the fit of this now and am pretty proud that I made it work.

Look how good that bodice fits now, not bad huh?

I first saw and loved this fabric at my local Spotlight store, but hesitated to buy it as I already have loads of fabric, but then when I happened to see it again at a different store and it was on sale, I just knew I had to buy it otherwise I would regret it.  It is a cotton sateen with a slight stretch which makes it super comfy.  It is also great for twirling!

I changed the back neckline, I am quite partial to a back v-neck, but that is not the reason I did it.  My zip was too short so instead of getting another one, I changed it to a v-neck – my Tim Gunn “making it work moment”.

Other alterations:
– lowering the front neckline as I find it more flattering if you can see my collarbones
– omitting the facings and using bias instead – I really hate facings  and although they may have given me a cleaner edge to the neck and armholes I am still fine with that.
– I shortened the bodice by 1/2″

I feel so girly in this 🙂

I can definitely see me making this again in different fabrics, and wearing it variations with a belt and a cardi for winter.

Overall happiness: 95%