Tag you’re it!

At the end of last Summer, I saw the new Alexander Henry fabric designs and fell in love with ‘Tag You’re It’, which is a retro New York style graffiti print. I’ve always loved old school hip hop and the opportunity to make a dress in this fabric was too good to be true. I bought the fabric straight away, then it sat in my cupboard for almost a year while I ummed and ahhed about what to make with it. I used a bit for the side and top panels for some board shorts for Thomas while I was trying to work out what to make. 

I came across a discussion on a sewing group on Facebook where someone had the same fabric and was asking for suggestions about what to make with it. Someone else suggested Simplicity 3833 which is a reissue of a 1960s pattern. It’s a simple a-line dress which suits a bold fabric design. It was a great suggestion and I ordered the pattern straight away. 

There were more pattern pieces that I expected, and I ended up cutting into the pattern itself rather than tracing off as I usually do in order to save time. For some reason, I got distracted by other projects, and this sat in a bag for about three months. We were going to a gig last week and I fancied making something new to wear, so picked it back up again. 

The bust dart seams were a new technique, and I’m not convinced that I’ve got the fit quite right. I really didn’t like the instructions or sewing order with this pattern, so ended up making it in the order I would normally sew a dress. I also changed the zip for an invisible zip. As I often find with Simplicity patterns, there is a huge amount of ease and it came up far too big. I took it in at the side seams which helped, but I think there are a few more adaptations I would make if I was going to make this again. 

The fabric is lovely quality and really nice to wear. I would be tempted to make the dress again in another fabric, but spend more time on fitting (as usual, I was sewing up to the wire with this!).