Tiramisu Knit Dress - Review

Tiramisu dress, with pockets!

Tiramisu dress, flattering midriff

 

Belted Tira - I swear my lips are not neon!

Belted Tira - real color is deeper...

The Facts 

Pattern: SewingCake 0144 - Tiramisu Knit Dress
Year: c. 2012
Fabric: Used 1.6 yards (size 35D) of Raspberry Ponte di Roma, 60% Poly, 34% Rayon and lycra, medium weight. I machine wash and dry it, can see a little piling but it didn't change the fit.
Notions:
- Ball point needle #70/09,
- Stay tape for shoulders seams,
- Fusible webbing for hemming.
Stitches:
- Basting : #1 Strait stich with length 5.0, Satin foot B
- Construction : #7 Stem stitch, Satin foot B
- Top-sticthing : #6 Strait Stretch stich, Blind Hem foot D at 1/8 in.
- Finishing : #16 Overcast Stretch, Overcasting foot C, cut SA at 1/4 in.
- Hemming : #7 Stem stitch, Blind Hem foot D
Time to complete: maybe 9-10 hours (with tracing, cutting, sewing, learning curve of a new sewing machine and lots of sewing knits 101) Maybe 5h for the next one?
First worn: March 2013.
Wear again? YES! I already did! 

Total Cost: about 25$ for 1.6m of fabric, stay tape, webbing and thread.

The Sewalong Review

Look ma, no gap! (before hemming)

My first sewalong : I loved it! It was from January 8 to 18th 2013. I did not finish in time due to a broken sewing machine foot and some procrastination during the hemming stage...

The format (30 min a day) was perfect for my busy mommy lifestyle of night sewing bursts! Of course, it never took me only 30 min per day ; I'm a perfectionist over planner! But I learned a lot in the process ; it was my first time sewing knits. I am hooked now!

Steph C was very generous of her time and comments. She is good to help, guide beginner sewers and is funny too! The flicker group was awesome ; so much inspiration, help, kind comments! It was like having girlfriends come over everyday to chat and sew the same project! My first sewalong, but definitely not my last! :D

Link to Etsy shop

The Pattern Review

Pattern Description: Tiramisu: a knit dress with a surplice front, underbust gathers and cut-on sleeves, midriff section and half-circle skirt with in-seam pockets. The pattern includes optional stripes placement guide, cup sizing A-D and bust alteration line.
 
Pattern Sizing: Ingenious way to choose you size ; by measurements (no arbitrary numbers here!), cup size and joining the dots for the midriff. I used :

• Bodice=35D. 
• Midriff=35 at top to 32.5 at waist. 
• Skirt=32.5 with 25 hem.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes!

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instruction were easy but I loved having the sewalong group for reassurance and variation of techniques by StephC...

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I love the visual of the pattern instructions ; so clear and simple. I still wish pattern instructions in general would come on Letter sized paper (I have a small desk to sew!), but those were the best I used so far (I had done only patterns from the big 4 before...)

Fabric Used: 1.6 yards of Solid, Raspberry Ponte di Roma, 60% Poly, 34% Rayon and lycra, medium weight.

twirling factor (before hemming)

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: 

• I am 5'2" and 40-33-40.
• I cut the Bodice size 35D, but cut the Front underbust line at size 35A.
• Midriff : I cut the size 35 at top to 32.5 at waist.
• Midriff : I also lengthen by 3/4 inch : but will not do it next time.
• Skirt : I cut the size 32.5 with the size 25 hem. I still removed about 3 inch when hemming.
• I remove 3/4 inch on the mid riff back (piece #2) at the under bust tapered to nothing at the waist. (mismatched pattern pieces, has been resolved in the second release of the pattern.)

Would you sew it again? YES!! I will do a top with the remnant of fabric (bought 3m to be able to recut pieces if fitting dictates to!) And I would love a 3/4 sleeve version and some for the summer too! I'm super proud of my craftsmanship on this project ; my best to date! I love the numerous quality stitch of my machine...

Related :

• Cake Pattern : http://sewingcake.com/
• Etsy Cake Patterns : http://www.etsy.com/shop/SewingCake
• Tiramisu Sewalong - Flicker Group : http://www.flickr.com/groups/2143657@N21/pool/
• Tiramisu Sewalong - Tracing : My blog post 1
• Tiramisu Sewalong - Cutting : My blog post 2
• Tiramisu Sewalong - Prepping : My blog post 3
• PatternReview.com :  My review of the Tiramisu pattern.