Simplicity 1810: A Hospital Gown in Disguise

I actually made this dress a couple of months ago in a fit of winter hatred. I found the chevron-y, arrow-y printed fabric at Joann's near the new nautical fabric, which I have to visit every time I'm at Joann's, even if I don't buy any. I think this fabric was from the Lisette line? It feels like a quilting cotton, but it was in the apparel section, so... I made it into a dress. Seems to work just fine.

The pattern is Simplicity 1810. I do not remember buying it, so I'm sure it was a pattern-sale purchase, where I go in with a plan and the best intentions, and leave with a bunch of a) random, b) baby, or c) similar patterns to what I already own. I do like this pattern. Or at least, I like the idea of this pattern. In practice it's sort of sack-like. The built-in ties are supposed to do all of the waist shaping, which they do to a certain extent, but. It's tricksy to get the dress to lay properly under the ties, and it's still a bit sack-ish. I made a Small even though my measurements suggested Medium, and I think I could even have gone down to an XS. Why, oh why, is there so much positive ease in patterns from the Big 4? No one looks good swimming in their dress.

(See? So much extra fabric above the ties on the sides.)

Not sure that the pattern-fabric combo is my best work. It truly does look like a hospital gown without the ties... and even a little bit with the ties. Maybe it's the color?

As per my usual, I cut the dress too short. Luckily I found this Kona quilting cotton in a color that went really well. The fabrics were about the same weight/drape, so I added a strip of the Kona to the bottom. Ta da, not too short. Also, the pattern has facings, which make me cringe no matter what. The facings had to go. First I bound the edges in bias tape instead of using the facings, but that totally didn't work, so I ripped them out and drafted a full lining for this thing. Then I sewed the lining to the neckline and armholes and realized that I could not turn the dress inside out anymore. Fail. So in the end I just hand stitched the lining to the armholes.

Overall: I'll wear it this summer, but it's not my best work, and it's not too terribly flattering. But it's easy to wear, fairly comfy, and long enough! Score one for that.