Heather dress from Sew Over It

When you dabble in social media where sewing and dressmaking is concerned, specifically Instagram in my case, you quickly notice which patterns are new and having a ‘moment’. Currently, for example, the Cleo dungaree pinafore by Tilly and the Buttons, the Linden sweatshirt from Grainline, or the Toaster top from Sewhouse 7 are really booming, they’re everywhere. Along with these is a new PDF from Sew Over It  a jersey dress called Heather. 

I liked the way the pockets were part of the style lines on the front and when I saw it was reduced to buy in their January sale I decide to snap one up.

I haven’t made a lot of PDFs but I’m slowly building up my collection, this one runs to 36 pages which seems about average. After my last experience where I had a PDF printed at the copy shop and it cost me a FORTUNE I went back to printing it myself and doing the sticking! I think this was probably me misunderstanding the price structure, perhaps someone can tell me if that’s the case?

I must say that the Heather was super-simple to piece together and very quick to stick together-I used a glue-stick this time instead of sticky tape which seems to work well (will I discover it’s all fallen to bits in 6 months time?)

I checked my measurements against the chart and decided to go with a 14, although I wasn’t sure at this stage if the hips would be too big. One thing I didn’t do this time was print off all the instructions, I left them on the laptop and referred to them as I went along (saving the planet one page at a time!)

I found a length of jersey in my beautifully curated collection (yeah right!) which hadn’t really lent itself to a project before because I thought it looked a little old-fashioned but with the right pattern could look more up-to-date. I decide the Heather dress was that project-I hope I’m right. Anyway the fabric had been given to me so it wasn’t an expensive mistake if it didn’t work very well, more of a wearable toile. 

On to the sewing-I was really impressed with how well the pieces went together (as you’ll know if you’ve read some of my earlier blogs I’m a stickler for accurate cutting out because  that way I know, if something doesn’t go together properly or markings don’t match, it’s more likely to be the pattern than my cutting out and I can make adjustments and a note for next time. It’s another reason I always prefer scissors because with a decent pair and practice they are so accurate)

The main feature of the dress is the in-seam pockets and the instructions for these are very clear and they sew together beautifully, I think a comparative novice could easily manage them without too much difficulty and they are very satisfying when you’ve done them. The only thing I added which isn’t in the instructions was some understitching to help the top edge roll over effectively.

Close up of the pocket in the seam.

The rest of the dress went together very quickly-there are no fastenings like zips or buttons to worry about or take time fiddling with. I’d chosen the long-sleeved version and these went in well. The only area I had any difficulty with (and this is a recurring theme for me) is the neckband. I can never get them to be flat enough. I mean it isn’t terrible but I think the band was a little too long in this particular fabric so it sticks up very slightly. If it had been worse than it is I would have unpicked but as this is more of a wearable toile I decided it was liveable and left it alone. I’m happy with the length too so I didn’t alter that, I must admit when I saw Lisa in the plain pink version I expected it to be too short so either she’s shortened that one or (quite likely) she has longer legs than me! I’m 5’5″ so totally average…

Posing it up in what’s become known as ‘the photo corner’ in the room where I teach my lessons on Thursdays (love that contrasting non-slip safety grip step edging!!)

So that’s Heather. Overall the fit is, as I suspected it might be, a little big for me over the hips so I ought to take a bit out of the side seams (I haven’t yet because I wanted to wear it) and when I make another I’ll make that adjustment in the cutting out. I’m not sure there’s quite enough room over the bust either, it’s a bit ‘flattening’ and I’m certainly not anyone’s idea of full-busted. It is very comfortable however, the day I wore it was freezing so I popped an RTW turtle neck underneath. I like the idea of contrast panels for the sides and sleeves so I think I’ll try that next although I’m trying to use fabric I already have for a while and I’m not sure I have anything else suitable so it might have to wait! I might try adding a collar that rolls over too. Lots of possibilities…

Overall I’m very pleased with the quality of this Sew Over It pattern, and it’s instructions, and I’d be happy to try another based on this one, maybe the Anderson blouse which looks elegant. The sticking together was pretty straightforward, the fit came up close to the finished measurements chart ( I’ll just need to act on them next time) and it has a number of variations. It would suit a confident novice who’s keen to try stable knits and some interesting style details, and pattern-sticking aside it’s pretty quick to make up.

Happy Sewing

Sue