Maven Patterns Rochester Dress and Top

As I work in the town that gave the Rochester pattern its name, I thought it would be rude not to make it! I even posed for a photo in front of Rochester castle itself wearing my dress - such dedication!

This is a garment that has a pretty simple method of construction with no zips or other fastenings to contend with. However, although I was able to follow the instructions and had no problems, I didn't find them that clear and I don't think they are particularly suitable for beginners.

I used some lightweight crepe for my dress and I think the drape and hand-feel works very well for this type of garment. I prefer to wear and sew with natural fibres, but I was tempted by the pretty print and I think it really suits the Rochester.

I made a size 8 on the top and graded out to a 10 for the waist and hips. I would probably make a straight size 10 next time, as a tiny bit of extra room in the bust and sleeves wouldn't hurt.

I struggled a bit with the neckline during construction - I had to take a couple of centimetres off the elastic to get better gathers and probably could have done with taking off a couple more, but if I made it any tighter I couldn't fit my head through the opening! Perhaps a different fabric would gather better, but I'm still not 100% happy with how this feature looks on my dress.

I love the silhouette of the dress, the feature of the back pleat and the pretty tie to nip it in at the waist. I definitely want to give it a go in another fabric - perhaps something with even more fluidity would help to really nail that neckline feature? I might even give the frill option a try too!

I'm head over heels in love with this dress and I'm sure there will be more versions of it in my future. It's my first time making a Maven pattern and I am very impressed with how it turned out. The dress is deceptively simple yet it looks sophisticated. There are no closures, the split level hem is finished with a facing, the bust shaping is achieved with gathers and there's an optional tie belt - which I made but haven't worn yet. Also, pockets!

I made a straight size 10. It's very easy to fit and, although it's not a fitted style, it's still very feminine. The instructions were comprehensive and overall very good. I really liked all the different seam allowances as I didn't have to spend time trimming and grading them after sewing. The only snag I hit was the back pleat which had me scratching my head for a while.

There is a blog post with more details and photos here: http://patsypoomakes.blogspot.com/2019/12/rochester-dress.html

The Rochester is a deceptively simple pattern, as it actually has a number of carefully designed details.

The first of the interesting features of the dress is the long curved hem, with side split and modest high-low hem. In addition to hem facing pieces, the pattern includes a template for top-stitching the hem, which I used and which definitely improved the neatness of my top stitching.

The other main feature of the dress is the neckline. There are two neckline options included in the pattern, and I had intended to use the alternative (which is a simpler single row of elastic directly at the neckline) due to loving the effect on the pattern cover. I decided, however, that I ought to try the more unusual option and I’m really pleased with the result, which was very easy to achieve with a couple of rows of stitching and a small off-cut of elastic. There’s also a pleat at the back of the dress and top stitching on the sleeves.

The style of the dress is easy to fit and wear, and there are no closures or darts.

The Rochester dress was a really pleasant make; it looks very effortless and relaxed but has a lot of surprising techniques and finishes which would be a treat for the more experienced sewist, with an elasticised gathered neckline, chic wide hems which are both curved AND hi-lo, neat pockets and (best of all) no zips!!!!

The Maven Patterns instructions are quite different from any that I've tried before both in their layout and in the construction style they suggest. Their use of the 'layers' function in adobe (they only offer PDF patterns at the moment I believe) allowed me to print out my size without wasting paper and without the risk of accidentally cutting on the wrong lines. Thankfully I didn't have to make any adjustments to the pattern (though next time I'll be shortening the sleeves I think) and mostly found this to be a straightforward enough sew however there were a couple of steps that had me scratching my head, especially when it came to sewing the facing onto the hemline at the curved edges.

Often, the geniuses at Maven included really innovative techniques which I'd never encountered before (that said, I'm not a particularly well-versed seamstress), however you have to kind of blindly trust the instructions and sometimes go against what you feel you should been doing in order to get those great results (again, I refer to those curved edges!)

Overall though, the Rochester is a really lovely pattern for a no-fuss dress that's great with tights and a slip in winter and nice and breezy in summer!