Gabrielle Dress by Seamwork, or my first dress

 The first dress I ever sewed was a knit fabric back in December of 2019. Though I'd made multiple quilts at that point, and even quilted a full size quilt on my tiny little Singer Fashion mate, I felt supremely confident in my ability to tackle the Gabrielle  Dress by Seamwork. 

The pattern is listed as a beginner pattern, which also helped my confidence. I loved the princess seams, cap sleeves, and back detailing.

It turned out surprisingly okay, considering I had never worked with knits, didn't know how to adjust patterns, how to do a bust adjustment, and I'm still not sure how to fix the fact that the back of the dress slightly gaps.

I used an unfamiliar machine for this dress, as I sewed it mostly at my parents house, and borrowed my mom's machine. 


My mother helped me view the fit issues on the back. The dress is intended to be made either with or without a serger. I assembled this dress with zig zag stitches and lots of seam tape for the top stitching.

I had tunneling issues with the top stitching - I can't tell if it was me, the machine, or the fabric.

It would be months before I used a serger for the first time (which would blow my mind with how easy they make sewing knits), and before I really learned about proper fitting techniques. I followed the pattern too literally - cuting triangles instead of just making notches. 

It's still a lovely dress - the first I'd ever made. It's not perfect, but I stepped out of my comfort zone and did it. If I made it again, I would adjust the back to make it not gap quite so much.



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