For some time, I had the Zephyr pattern from Deer and Doe in my stash waiting patiently for me to make it into something. I particularly like the V-neck line on the dress (view B).

I chose this pattern for my January make for the MinervaCrafts Blogger Network (here is the link to my post on Minerva Crafts blog if you fancy a read of that).

Before I made my actual dress, I decided to do a wearable muslin using some scuba fabric which was gifted to me by Boz who is running the Fabric Magpie online store at the SewNorthWest meet-up last year in Bolton. The digital print is so lovely and perfect for a summer dress.

Based on my body measurement, I cut a size 40 and used the overlocker for construction. To keep the seams flat I used a small zig-zag stitch as well as on the necklines once the bands were in.

Once I constructed the bodice, I tried it on and realised that I needed to take out about 1 cm of the back. I shaved off 1 cm at the centre back going into nothing at the side seam. The front was ok.

Once the dress was completed I tried it on and decided that it was too long on me, so I cut off 3 cm off the skirt as well. I did this by using a basting stitch on the sewing machine and then used the overlocker to cut off the excess. Also, I only did a 0.7 cm hem.

The dress came together very quickly, especially, when using the overlocker for most of the construction. It’s so cute.

There is no surprise that my actual dress took so little time to make, including me deciding how to place the pattern pieces for the skirt on the fabric so that the side seams are not too visible in the finished garment.

And since I had some leftover fabric, I manages to squeeze View C of the pattern as well. So, I made a top and a skirt out of the same border fabric. For the black dress and the separates, I used the double needle to flatten the seams and to finish the hems.

For the top, I used the same pattern pieces as for the V-neck dress. The top is way too short for me to wear with anything that has a low waist. I am not a fan of showing off my waist. But it will work with high waisted skirts and trousers. I think when I make the top again, I will lengthen it by about 2 to 3 cm just so that it minimises the amount of skin that’s on show.

As I love this pattern so much, I’m adding it to my list of patterns to use when I need an outfit at the last minute but do not have too much time to make it. With this pattern I made myself a dress for summer and more elegant outfits for those special occasions that arise.