First Maxi for the Summer!

Here’s my first maxi for the summer! 



Stitch Upon A Time (or SUAT), recently released the “Shirtzie” pattern.  I loved everything about it so I had to get the pattern and sew it right away. 



I normally sew a size Medium for all SUAT top patterns so I started with that.  It was too tight so I sized up to a Large.  However, after I did this I realized my fabric is thicker and has more spandex than my normal Cotton Lycra, so it might just be the fabric causing me to size up. 



While I loved this pattern, I didn’t love that the skirt gathered all the way around.  Pear shapes should not have gathers at the hip.  So I grabbed my skirt from SUAT’s similar pattern, the Brazi, (a tank maxi) and used that skirt.  It has gathers only in the front. The pieces from both patterns are interchangeable.



I also slimmed down the skirt for a more straight look than the flared bottom of the pattern.  I just eyeballed that part but mainly I went to the normal hip mark and then went straight down from there instead of flaring out. 



I also had to cut the back skirt with a center back seam to save fabric.  I added seam allowance at center to make up for this.  With my busy print you can barely tell.



I had to shorten the hem by 4 whole inches!  And I’m 5’7” tall!  Honestly I’ve had this dress sewn most the week now but didn’t feel like hemming it.  Today I finally did.



The pattern goes together really easy.  There are picture steps as well as words.  This is a PDF pattern.  I love being able to print in layers (only the sizes you need) and I print “borderless” on  my printer setting so it is a breeze to tape together. 



Fabric:  1/2 yard of 11 oz Dark Navy Blue Cotton Lycra Knit purchased March 2016, $1.98; and 2 yards of Navy/Ivory Floral T-Shirt Jersey Knit, 100% cotton, purchased also March 2016 $7.90.  Total for dress: $9.88



Thoughts:  I really love that this maxi dress has waist definition.  As a pear shaped woman I find it hard to wear any dress that does not snug in at the waist; my proportions get all thrown off and I look larger than I really am.  So this pattern was perfect for me. 



We have a bit of a heat wave this next week so I’m looking forward to wearing my new maxi dress!  (77°F is really warm for the Midwest this time of year, we just came from 40°F).







*~*  Happy Sewing! *~*

Kristin