The popover Dress
Yay!! I finally made Gretchen Hirsch's Popover dress from her book, Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses.
Let me first start by telling you NOT to use a one-directional fabric. Holy moly, I learned that lesson the hard way. The book says you'll need 3 1/3 yards of fabric. I bought 3 1/2 yards to have extra to make a matching hair bow, purse, accent on a bag, etc. As I cut into the fabric I thought, oh shoot, I'm going to need much more! A big face-palm moment there. Ugh!
I ran back to the store and bought another 1 1/2 yards- totaling 5 yards of fabric. OMG!! Thank the fabric gods I had a 50% off coupon to use for both shopping trips. Lesson learned! Next time and there will be a next time, I will buy a multi-directional, busy print fabric. Jebus! (If you get my Simpson's reference, I love you).
Aside from my fabric choice mistake, the dress pattern was crazy easy to transfer. It basically has 1 piece. I always use freezer paper when I trace patterns. It's a good-sized roll and you get a lot of bang for your buck.
The pattern has the main dress, an armhole facing, a shoulder bow, and ginormous pocket pieces to trace. Easy peasy! I opted out of using the pockets and shoulder bows for this particular dress, but I transferred the pattern pieces for future use.
After you wash, dry, and iron your fabric, you'll cut it out. I usually like to trace the pattern while the fabric washes one day and sew it the next day. But, this dress was so simple and quick, that you could trace and sew it in an afternoon. It took me around 2 hours to sew- including making tea and a snack for myself and the kids. #momlife
I didn't let the dress hang for 24 hours before sewing up the hem- I know, I’m ashamed. But, it was going so smoothly that I wanted to just get it done so I could try on the essential tent. And boy, is it a tent. Ha!
I stuck an elastic waist belt on and WOW! Transformation doesn't even describe it. When I put on my crinoline, it was a Wowsa moment! I was a 50's housewife goddess. Exactly what Gertie promised. Yep, I love the dress!!
My only gripe is the facings don't lay flat. It could be that I didn't cut it 100% perfectly or sew it exactly in the fold area. I'll play with that on the next dress.
And also, the front is a tad low. I've seen other bloggers complain about the low neckline as well. Luckily, I preach the motto "If you got it, flaunt it." But, I can imagine the low neckline being bothersome for some.
I didn't make a step-by-step tutorial on this post because Gertie does a fabulous job on her YouTube channel. Go give that a watch if you are a visual person. I went back and referred to it a couple of times.
Serge those raw seams before you stitch everything together.
Use fusible interfacing along the facings to help stabilize them.
Isn't this fabric cute? It's from Joann. I love their new Simplicity line of quilting cotton and wanted to make a dress with this pink one
I am planning on making a few of these dresses for the summer. Hawaiian print, polka dots, and gingham fabric. Gimme all the carefree, fun, and flowy fabrics. I did buy 2 belts from Amazon- one black and one white. I figured they'd go with most everything because you do need an elastic cinch belt with this dress. She has an option in the book to make a shirred waist and I plan on trying that eventually.
Disclaimer: Many, many years ago I tried shirring a shirt and it was a huge disaster. Hoping to get the courage to try it again with the Popover dress.
I can see myself sewing up a few of these batch-style in a day. So easy, so comfy, and pretty darn cute too! Thanks for another great pattern, Gertie! You are amazing
So, what do you think? Are you game for making the super simple Popover dress? What other dresses do you plan on making in her book? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy Sewing,
Annette
