Frockalicious

Remember this fabric from a couple of Sunday Stashes ago? Well I have busted my stash to make this beautiful gelato coloured summer dress, and what a great little one this is. It is perfect for hiding a tummy after large dinners and easy enough to throw on before taking Missi Mu to the park.
The pattern is Vogue 8552, and although it says very easy and ended up being easy, it required comcentration on reading instructions, as the darts in the back weren't standard and the neckline required me to focus. I did about half the basting in the instructions and the pleats at the neckline are staystitched into place to create a lovely ruffle.
This pattern was overall really detailed and logical to follow. My main issue with it was the armholes- WAY too small (unless I have somehow in the fashion world been classified as 'tuckshop'!). Fortunately it was easy to fix. After sewing the side seams I tried on the dress and pinned around the armhole of one side where I wanted the seam to be. Then in my undies and bra with pins flying around me I stitched the bias binding on this line. Instead of rolling the bias binding to make an edge on the armhole (as it said to do in the pattern- I wasn't too fussed on this idea anyway) I folded on the seam and then staystitched the bias underneath, which complemented the stitching at the neckline. I then measured from the finished armhole to do the same on the other side.