Coffee Date Dress

My next sewing project was a lofty one, as I've never made a piece of clothing before. My friend Jess introduced me to the BurdaStyle website and we found a great, free dress pattern, the Coffee Date Dress. BurdaStyle is a great, collaborative community for people of all sewing abilities to find free or cheap patterns and share their own projects. Usually, the patterns have detailed instructions but for some reason this one did not, so we were on our own.

We raided my aunt's fabric stash and I came away with two gorgeous tropical prints and some peach lining fabric. I decided to start with the gray and white print since it didn't need a lining. No need to make my first project harder by making a lining (essentially a second dress) when the pattern doesn't even have instructions in the first place!

Here is the pattern cut out and pinned to the fabric:

I started piecing the bodice together. Here it is almost done:

This pattern is for an A-line skirt, which I don't really like, so I took it in a lot at the sides and back. Here is the bodice and skirt ready to be joined together:

The pattern also calls for a ruffle at the front of the bodice. I played around with the ruffle but I decided not to use it. With this bold and busy pattern I found that the ruffle blocks a lot of nice pattern on the bodice and  looks jumbled when folded up like that.

The finished dress with the perfect red belt!

Overall, I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Stay tuned for pictures of my friends' dresses using the same pattern! As usual, I couldn't do it without my ladies, so, a shout out to MaryLee, Amy, Jess and my mom!