Simple and sophisticated

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