Hi everyone, Becky here from Notes from the Sewing Room. I was delighted to be asked to review the Tara Button- back Dress from Simple Sew.

The Tara Button-back Dress is the first pattern I’ve reviewed for Simple Sew, and I couldn’t wait to get started.

The dress is supposed to have a button back closure, but I decided to add in a few changes due to being 26 weeks pregnant at the time of writing this and wanting my outfit to be as comfortable as possible.

What changes did I make?

I’m a big fan of Simple Sew patterns as they tend to fit me well and generally don’t have loads of pattern pieces to cut out. I don’t know about you, but I often enjoy making quick speedy projects, rather than more detailed and involved makes.

The Tara Button-back Dress is supposed to be made in a woven fabric, so the first change I made was to make it in a jersey fabric instead. I used a light-weight scuba fabric I bought from Leicester market a while ago. Unfortunately, the fabric is not great quality and has lost a bit of its colour in the wash, but I think it still works well for this.

Buttons are supposed to be added to the back of the dress, but due to using a stretch fabric I decided to miss out this step and instead sew up the back-seam. This means I just slip the dress on over my head.

In order to miss out the ‘button steps’ in the pattern I cut the pattern on the line marked for the centre back-seam, rather than adding on the extra width across the back to form the button closure.

I then added 1.5cm to the centre back-seam before I cut my fabric, this was for my seam allowance.

How was the sizing?

I normally make a size 10 in all Simple Sew Patterns, but I was worried the back skirt pieces were going to be to ‘straight’ for me as I prefer an A Line design, so on this occasion I graded out to a size 12 for the skirt.

However, I didn’t need to worry. I ended up taking the dress in by a couple of inches on the back-seam in the end to achieve a more fitted look.

I’d definitely recommend trying on your dress during the making process, before you finish your inside seams with a zig zag stitch or an overlocker. This way you will have the chance to reduce the size of your dress like me if you wanted to.

The pattern 

The pattern includes the usual easy to understand instructions you would expect in a Simple Sew pattern, but of course I think it would probably be best if you had made a few garments before tackling this project. This is particularly if you wanted to make similar changes to me, just so you have a bit of extra confidence more than anything else.

Would I recommend this project/fabric?

Yes, I am really pleased with my new dress. I’d recommend both making this in a light-weight scuba fabric and trying the Tara Button-back Dress pattern; both are wonderful to sew and wear.

Keep up to date with my latest makes

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Until next time, happy sewing.

Becky

Changing the fabric for the Tara Button-back Dress pattern to accommodate her baby bump is a great idea and shows what you can achieve with a little confidence and know how. We’d love to see if you take Becky’s advice and make up your Tara Dress the same way. Don’t forget to share on our Facebook or Instagram accounts.

For more details on the fabric requirements and the sizing check out the back of the envelope below.