Mint Anna

Good Grief! 

Time flies much, much too fast when one is busy. But that is life I suppose. Here is another dress that I made over the holiday season: Mint Anna. Or Anna Mint. Whichever you prefer. 

Before I made our Christmas dresses, I decided to use some of my stash fabric and make Photographer Sister and myself some wearable muslins to confirm the fit prior to cutting into my oh-so-valuable Christmas quilting cotton.

I originally cut out the smallest size for Photographer Sister's dress. According to her measurements, it should have been correctly fitting. It was not. I ended up having to squeeze another bodice out of the scraps of this fabric. I went from a 2/6 to a 6/10 for the front bodice and I graded out from a 2/6 to a 6/10 on the back to help alleviate the gapping around the back neck. 

Overall it worked out pretty well. I did not want to re-trace the skirt pieces out, so I just left them at 2/6, but I reduced the seam allowance at the waist by a quarter inch or so before going back out to the 5/8 in. seam.

I used just a regular zipper. I cannot remember if it is a lapped zipper or just normal and I am far too lazy to go check, so we shall just assume that it is a regular zipper insertion.

The fit this time around was nearly spot on. Unfortunately, due to fabric shortages, I was not able to recut the facings, so I resorted to using bias binding to finish the neckline. If I were to do it again I would fold the bias binding all the way over, but this time I didn't so it almost gives it a 1960's funnel neck vibe. Which is not at all bad!

I am really pleased with the way that the pleats work on the dress bodice. I much prefer them to darts! I am always afraid that I will end up with pointy dart syndrome. So far I have been rather lucky in avoiding such a calamity, but it was rather nice to not have to worry about it this time!

Notes For The Avid Seamstress:

Fabric: Quilting cotton. From Joann

Pattern: By Hand London Anna Dress

Notions: Zipper, and hook and eye

Notes: I managed to get this dress out of three yards of fabric by cutting it on the cross-grain. I do not typically pay much attention to the cutting layout. Bad me. Do not expect that to change any time soon! Because I cut it on the cross-grain I had to shorten the skirt by four or five inches. Can you tell? Neither can I! I could not believe how long this was when I was fitting it on my sister. I expected it to be mid-calf or high ankle at the most, but no. It is almost too long! You definitely have to hold up the skirt when you are walking upstairs lest you risk tripping over it. Photographer Sister is 5' 8" so if you are a shorter person you would be wise to take the length into consideration!

I really like the design of this dress. It is simple, elegant and easy to whip up. I managed to make five of them in less than three weeks. That is how basic these are. I can absolutely see more Anna Dresses in the future!

Ta-ta for now!

~Emily