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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Simplicity 2269 Review

I thought this 'easy-to-sew' pattern had great potential.  Sure enough, it turned out cute, but I have a bone to pick with whoever designated this 'easy-to-sew'.  It should have been 'everything on this pattern is easy to sew except the neckline insert which is fiddly and difficult and almost made me swear'.


At one point I nearly chucked it, but once I got the neckline in, the rest was a breeze - I was able to finish it up pretty dang quick.

You know me, I can't leave well enough alone...I changed the sleeves a bit - instead of gathering the bottom and attaching them to a smaller sleeve lining, I made a double inverted box pleat (that's what I'm calling it - basically it's just a box pleat with another one layered on top).  I added a contrasting band at the bottom.  If this was going to be a fancy dress, I would have hand sewed the band on the inside - but since it's supposed to be a hard wearing play dress, I opted for topstitching.
I'm a little psyched about the hem for this dress - I taught myself how to do a machine blind-hem (with the help of this great tutorial from makeit-loveit.com).  My Brother machine came with the blind-hem foot - I had just never bothered to learn what it was for.  I still need a little practice with it, but this little dress was a perfect trial run.


I'm still a little bummed about the not so 'easy-to-sew' pattern - I was really looking for something easier to deal with. 


8 comments:

  1. Kylene taught me the blind hem stitch last year and it's revolutionized all the thrifting and make-overs I do with already-made items of clothing. I'm going to be posting a maxi-dress soon that I turned into a midi. It was easy and such a fun way to transform a dress.

    Oh, and did I tell you that I love what you did with M's dress? Love the fabric choices and love that it's a play dress.

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  2. Jennifer OsborneMay 4, 2012 at 7:21 AM

    Could you please help me with the neck band? I can't get past the step of attaching the back neckband, its just not making any sense to me. Pictures would be great, but a more detailed how to would work too. Thanks, Jenn

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  3. Ha! Your line, "the neckline insert which is fiddly and difficult and almost made me swear," is summing up exactly where I'm finding myself right now. I'm out searching the web for help on inserting the neckband, which I had to abandon yesterday because I had reached the point where it wasn't fun. Trying to take a deep breath and start again. Thanks for giving me faith.
    Julie in Charlotte, NC

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  4. Yes, sewing the neckline on this pattern sucks. "Easy to Sew"? What were they thinking.

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  5. I can't figure out how to put this neck band on. Does anyone have any advice? I seriously cannot figure this out,

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  6. I see it has been a year and 5 months and no one has had the sympathy for all others to put a you tube video up on how to complete this neck band. Someone please help those people who keep buying this so called "easy to sew pattern" with the neck line.

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  7. I struggled with the neckline for longer than I care to admit before I found this blog post, which was very helpful: http://wendystnt.blogspot.com/2015/04/simplicity-2269.html?showComment=1455813154040#c1468456551556977935

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  8. This pattern is gonna be the death of me!!!! Wish I'd seen this post and these comments BEFORE I purchased it! AUGH!!!

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