Zephyr Dress – Deer & Doe

Well, this is my first review for any pattern, so here goes.

The fabric I used for this pattern was a polyester scuba type knit, with a raised waffle type pattern. It was pretty cheap, only £2 a meter, if I recall correctly. I’ve had it in my stash for a while and thought it’d be great for a wearable muslin. It was pretty easy to work with, though it didn’t want to hold a crease at all. I got round this by steaming it and using a clapper on it.
The instructions were pretty clear, with nice diagrams. The only parts I had an issue with were the instructions for finishing the neckband… they were a little vague and the way I interpreted them made it unlikely that the finish would look like that, on the testers I’d seen, so I kind of winged it and did it my own way. Also, after attaching the side bodice pieces, at the given 3/8″ seam allowance, there was an extra flap of fabric, left sticking out from the armholes. It wasn’t a problem, I just trimmed them off, once I got round to attaching the armhole bands.
Apart from that, it was pretty plain sailing. I cut the largest size, a 46 and the only alterations I made was to add an extra 1″ of length to each of the bodice pieces and the skirt pieces, as I am 5’10”. As I’m a C cup hourglass shape, I didn’t really need to change much else, as this seems to be what D&D draft for.
The finished garment looked just like I envisioned, if not better. I liked pretty much everything about the pattern, apart from the couple of glitches I mentioned.
I’d say the advanced beginner rating for this pattern is pretty much spot on. Top stitching knit fabric princess seams might be a bit much for a complete newbie but it’s not a very complected pattern.
I’d recommend this to a friend, without hesitation and, though my wearable muslin is far more wearable than I envisioned it would be, I’ll be making this one again.