Style ARC Patricia Rose Dress – Sewing From a Dress Pattern

A Little About the Fabric

Essex Yarn Dyed in Malibu

Contents: 55% linen 45% cotton
Width: 43'' wide
Weight: 5.6 oz. per square yard.

As Summer was approaching when these patterns arrived we chose an easy fabric to wear in the sunshine. The Robert Kaufman Linen/Cotton Essex Yarn Dyed Fabric Looks very lovely and feels fantastic to wear. It is a bit of a favorite here at Coolcrafting and has been worn in many of the Merchant and Mills designs, so it is nice to try it with something new to us. The width is about 115cm and so I needed 2.5 meters of fabric to sew this dress in a size 10. I would buy more if I went up a dress size as I only just squeezed the sleeves into the gap that allowed me to use a shorter length. 3m should be enough for most dress sizes in linen and linen/cotton fabrics that we sell.

To pre-wash or not to pre-wash? I pre-washed this Fabric. And I finished the edges of each piece, though it wasn't specified in the pattern, as I wanted my dress to last a good long time and to keep nice and neat and tidy.

Patricia Rose Dress, Style Arc Sewing Pattern

The Coolcrafting team were all very excited to become a new UK stockist of the StyleArc patterns and this is just one of the designs that we have been trying out.

The Patricia Rose Dress has a really nice combination of being loose fitting and easy to wear whilst still looking great with its V-neck. It has a neat, under-bust horizontal tuck, which is enhanced by the front inverted pleat, side in-seam pockets and roll-up sleeves. My impression when about half way through it was that it was far too cute for me to wear, it just looked so lovely, but now that it is finished I think I can get away with it!

I enjoyed using this pattern very much. The pieces fit very well and neatly together, the paper thickness was nice and definitely reusable. The multicoloured lines were fine, but - do you remember that channel 4 your programs will return shortly thing that used to be on tv, well they did remind me a little of that for some reason, so the tune kept replaying in my head . . . .Stylearc have clear and well written tutorials on their website that are worth a browse just to be aware they are there in case of future need. There was a link to one of these for the pockets if you needed a little extra guidance for them. You could also search their gallery for fabric ideas.

The Pattern is very clear on where to start and each stage, it feels like you progress at a satifying pace down from the shoulders through the lovely pleat and tuck, in-line pockets and side seams and the arms fit in nicely.

I liked the V neck of this dress its a nice soft V which sits nicely with the rest of the design. I found that when I sewed the tuck I was cautious with the amount of fabric that I allowed for it, but as you can see from the photograph, I would probably have been better to allow a little more, especially of the centre of the front, there.

The Shoulders were nice and broad. I measured between a 10 and 12 and sewed a 10. There is plenty of room for movement for my arms and across my back. I took in the side seems a little from just above the tuck downwards as I am quite narrow there compared to my other measurements. This is true to most other patterns too. I really liked the fit of the Patricia Rose for looks and ease of wear.

I chose to shorten the dress a little. I am 5'4" Thre is plenty of length in the pattern and I think this would also make a lovely tunic. The sleeves look lovely long and rolled shorter, which makes it look a little more casual. I will definitely be wearing this again!