My first ever dress - New Look 6022

I thought I'd share the first ever dress I made with you.

The pattern I used is New Look 6022. I chose this pattern for two main reasons - it said it was easy and there were no fiddly zips to tackle!  The dress has four options and I chose to make view A. View A has neck pleats and pleated sleeve heads. It also has an partly elasticated waist at the back and elastic gathers on the ends of the sleeves.

I chose this black vintage style poplin from Minerva crafts. I found this poplin easy to work with and it has washed well.

Now this is the thing, as this was the first dress I made, I didn't now that much about which pattern size to choose! I cut a straight 12 which is where I made my mistake as the finished dress is far too tight across the hips. Now when I'm cutting out a pattern for a dress, I tend to choose 12 or 14 depending on how much ease is included (and believe me some of these patterns have loads of ease) and then grade to the next size up on the hips. This gives me a bit more wiggle room!

I also don't cut out the paper pattern anymore. I trace my size on to large tissue paper, making any adjustments needed. I use this Burda tissue paper. This means I can use the pattern again if I need to make a different size.

I think that I should also start thinking about making a muslin first as it's annoying to spend time on a dress only to discover it doesn't fit that well!  Or at the very least make a "wearable" muslin in cheap fabric.  I'd love to hear what other people do to ensure a good fit.

Things I like about this dress:

The bound neckline. Think this could look good in a contrasting colour.
The pleats on both the sleeves and the front. I used tailor tacks to mark them and think I did a good job.
The material. Poplin is a dream to sew.
My button loop. This was my first attempt.

Things I don't like:

The fit! As I said too tight on the hips plus I think the sleeves are a tad tight.
The elastic on the back. Not sure of the point of this. I suppose it's suppose to make it less sack-like but I think adding a belt is a better option.

Does my bum look big in this?

I might tackle this dress again.  I'm undecided. Think I would go for version B or C next time as I've seen some nice versions, like this one on Louise's blog Sew Sensational. Just need to get the fit right and it might be a cute little summer dress.

Have you made Simplicity 6022 or had any fitting disasters?

Catherine x