I’ve always loved shift dresses.  They remind me of an era when women were elegantly dressed even when they just had to go for coffee across the street.  Think Audrey Hepburn or Jackie Onassis, two ladies who never seemed to have any sartorial faux pas, and who always remind me of when it comes to shift dresses.  It’s no wonder I chose my first dress pattern to be that of Colette’s Laurel because not only it looks easy for a beginner like me, it also exudes timeless elegance.

I bought a printable version and cut it to size 2.  I’m actually a size 0 but I thought if I wanted a loose fit, shouldn’t I cut it one size up? Wrong.  The Laurel seems to be engineered for women who are blessed with fuller chests, to which I unfortunately don’t hold a membership card for.  I should have stuck to size 0 and followed my instincts to baste the side seams first so I would know if the dress fits well.  Oh well, lesson learned: size 0 next time and adjust the bust part.

One thing I’m so proud about this dress is the invisible zipper.  God knows how much time I spent just staring at it, agonizing at how I might mess it up and ruin the dress completely.  Funny how the sight of such a harmless thing really scared the living daylights out of me when it was actually so easy to sew on!  I did mess up a bit by putting it lower than it should but it zips properly so this little misstep doesn’t bother me at all.

Invisible zipper: check.  Darts: check.  Blind hem: done. Shift dress: sewn.  I don’t do New Year’s resolutions but I do believe in setting out goals, exploring horizons and maximizing oneself.  One way to do that is to brave out the unknown, and one unknown in my list right now is how to sew buttonholes.  That would be my next project when I’m done doing 20 versions of Laurel. 🙂

• Pattern:  Laurel by Colette Patterns
• Difficulty:  Easy/ Beginners
• Here are some really helpful tutorials and/or videos about:
  • sleeves
  • blind hem
  • invisible zipper
• Note about the invisible zipper foot:  If you have a Janome 423s like me, its universal zipper foot works completely fine.  I actually bought an invisible zipper foot online but I realized it was totally doable with the universal one.

 xoxo