Last year I wrote a post about the Eve Dress by Sew Over It, which I made in a Rifle Paper Co rayon. I love that version, but there were some fit issues that became glaringly more apparent when I made the same dress in slightly more structured lawn. Since I painted the pattern in a positive light then, I feel like I should revisit my review and explain the issues and how I tackled them.

Firstly, I needed to make a smaller size, so I did that on the second version. I thought this would remedy the issue with the sleeves (wherein the fit is so odd, you can’t even raise your arms out in front of you). So after I cut out the odd shaped sleeves from my Liberty, and sewed them in, I tried on the dress only to discover they were not even wearable. I mean, I suppose if I were a mannequin with arms that stayed still at my sides, they would work, but alas, I do need my arms to function and consequently my sleeves as well. The problem with the sleeve pattern piece is that the shoulder cap is raised so high, it causes little to no movement to be allowed in the arms. Its a big problem, and upon posting my problem on Instagram, I discovered many others had had the same problem, and had chosen to go with the flutter sleeves. That’s a fine alternative, I suppose, but if I buy a pattern, I need to be able to use all the pieces without issue. I wanted the fitted 3/4 length sleeves.

Unfortunately, it seems that this issue was not enough to warrant a pattern fix because I’ve seen no evidence of it, nor has Sew Over It responded to any of those issues on Instagram, which is sad. I think its a pattern worth fixing, especially as its so simple to resend a PDF with no monetary loss. The silhouette is truly lovely, and would be so much better with a properly fitting sleeve.

Anyway, I’m here with my dress, and I did find my own solution to the issue. I made my favorite shirt last year. One of my favorite aspects of the Perfect Shirt is the wonderful fit of the sleeve, so I used the pattern piece from that and made it into a 3/4 length to suit the look I was trying to achieve. I now have a perfectly fitting sleeve, and I’m happy to sport the dress. Cutting down a size in the dress also helped where it was gaping in the chest.

Sometimes, often really, patterns need a little adjusting here and there to achieve a perfect fit. That’s normal and makes sense since women have such varied shapes and sizes and patterns are generally made from a block that works for a particular company (which is why when you find a ready to wear brand you love, you can often depend on them for consistent fits and sizing). However, there are times when a pattern piece has been poorly drafted and truly needs an across the board fix. I’ve seen Colette do that very thing. If they have had negative feedback, they halt sales of that pattern and redraft it to work. They did that with Rue, I believe, last year. That’s good business in my humble (but right) opinion. I’d love to see Sew Over It fix this issue. It certainly rebuilds a lot of trust in a brand that’s willing to stand behind their work.

I haven’t fallen out of love with Sew Over It. In fact, later in the week I’ll show you my latest make from them and give you a run down on the pattern. They put out a lot of great patterns for women that fill some big gaps in the pattern industry, and I’ll keep supporting them for now. Ive seen some negative bashing happening on social media toward some designers lately which I think is in poor taste. I hope that this post doesn’t come across that way, because I just feel like I need to stand behind what I write here. I don’t want to recommend something if there is a real issue. That said, no company out there is perfect, so I certainly give them grace! They do a lot of really wonderful work!

Finally I should tell you about this fabric! Isn’t it gorgeous? Its the Earthly Delights print from Liberty’s Garden of Temptation collection last year, and its one of my all time favorites. I just love how utterly lush this particular print is. It came in a few different color ways, and I got this one from Jones & Vandermeer. I’m actually going to be showing you another piece I made for myself in a different color way of this same print later this week! Its that good. I’m pretty sure I would shamelessly wear both within two days time.

I do hope you are well today! Are you snowed in, or is Spring creeping in where you are? East Tennessee can’t decide what it wants to do. We went from consistently cold/snowy weather to a February in the upper 70s. And now March is confused. Everything is blooming one day and then it snows the next. I don’t know what to think of it. I wouldn’t mind another bowl of snow cream before next winter though!

-Meredith.