You might not be aware, but I do have a love affair with Mimi G‘s patterns. I like that she designs the patterns keeping in mind that not everyone is tall and slim. An added bonus is that the pattern envelopes show her wearing the garments. As a short person I can relate to her and helps me imagine the designs on me.

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Simplicity 9261* looked like a perfect pairing with Textured Stretch Knit Fabric* that has sparkles from Minerva*. I was so eager to start making my dress, that I did not check whether my machine can handle sewing over sequins before I cut into the fabric. After that, I tried sewing the fabric and guess what?! My machine did not like it one bit. At that point, I realised I’m gonna have to do what I was trying to avoid, remove the sequins from the seam allowances. This pattern involves many pattern pieces. I was about to abandon the whole project, but I did not have enough fabric left to try a simpler pattern. After three days of taking sequins out, I was ready to make my dress. Even with the sequins removed, I still ended up breaking three sewing machine needles on this dress.

In the end I had to follow all the prep steps that are required when working sequinned fabric ( mark the seam allowance, thread baste it and cut out the sequins). There are many techniques for removing them out of the seam allowance. I chose not to cut out the thread holding them in place to make sure only the sequins I wanted to remove would come out. For more details about how I got along with this fabric please check out my post on the Minerva website here*.

Sewing Summary:

Pattern: Simplicity 9261* from Mimi G Style collection of patterns:Misses’ over-the-head knit dress has deep v-neck, stitched flanges, front pockets & is above knee or calf length.

Sizing:H5 (6-8-10-12-14), U5 (16-18-20-22-24)

Fabric: 1.5 m Textured Stretch Knit Fabric*, 1.5 m Stretch Knit Lining Fabric*

Notions: pattern calls for 0.5 m knit interfacing (I used none for my dress)

Modifications: I made view A in size 14. The only change made was to do a sway back adjustment. Because my fabric was a little see-through I underlined the skirt pieces and hand-stitched the hem. Also, I. stitched the centre front seam 2.5 cm higher than the notches. For the pocket facing used lining fabric instead of the sequinned fabric.

Instructions: I did not use the instructions included with the pattern, I just watched Brittany’s YouTube tutorial on Mimi G’s channel and did my own thing.

Fit: I am pleased with the fit of the dress. I am glad did not adjust the length on the skirt as the hem sits on my knees. I know that Mimi G is shorter than me so the knee length dress looks on her a little longer.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?: Yes.

Watch out for: take your time to understand the bodice construction. I watched the video twice to get how the bodice needs to be constructed.

Make Again?: Yes, for sure. I am making this dress again. I am thinking of using two different fabrics, maybe even contrasting ones.

And yes, it has pockets! When I think of sequinned dresses I do not associate them with pockets. It feels kinda cool to have a sequinned dress with pockets. And, before you say they would not be that useful as the sequins will scratch your hands, I have placed the pocket pieces on the fabric where there were less sequins and used lining fabric for the pocket facing.

It took me longer to take out the sequins out of the seam allowances than to sew the actual dress. But, I am really glad that I did not give up on this project. Now, I know why everyone suggests when working with this type of fabric is to always use a simple pattern with as few pattern pieces as possible.