Simplicity 3539

I love this dress! I bought this pattern at the $1.99 sale at Hancock's last week. I've always liked this style of dress, but have never made one because all I could think of was "maternity" and once you've actually worn maternity dresses, you don't want to look like you're wearing one if you're not! Anyway, this style is so popular that I thought I would give it a try. If found this wool blend at Hancocks also, and I love the way it feels. It has the feel and drape of rayon challis, with just a little bit more body. It was perfect for this dress.


I didn't really follow the directions too much because I decided to line the whole thing. The pattern has you face the yoke, which in essence is a lining of that part. But then they want you to use bias tape to finish the armholes. I just made another skirt section out of lining fabric and put the two "dresses" together to line it following the guide line in Connie Long's book Easy Guide to Sewing Linings.

I have posted a tutorial on how to do the lining here. So, dear readers, if you get a chance, will you take a look at the tutorial and see if it makes sense and let me know? Of course, it makes perfect sense to me, but I know what I'm trying to say! LOL!

Again, I just love this dress, and even my daughter thought it was cute and wants me to make one for her with sleeves for her work. I can see a lot of summer dresses coming from this pattern as well.