Beausoleil Dress-Itch to stitch

At the moment is like I am doing only "testing" sewing, but I think the deadlines are a push for me to finish the garments on time. Life can get a little busy, so if normal I will take my time with a project when testing a pattern I need to finish on time. So, the latest pattern testing was, for Itch to Stitch patterns, for lovely Kennis. A  new pattern, the Beausoleil dress & top, absolutely on trend but definitely not something I would buy from a store, not that I buy any clothes but this "cold shoulder" style is not something that I ever considered. Testing patterns is for me also the possibility to get out my comfort zone and try new things.

Beausoleil has cup sizing A, B, C, D and DD, sizes 00-20, option for a dress or top, center back lapped zipper ( with a great tutorial on ITS blog), patch pockets for the dress option.

I made my dress in my usual 4C size for the upper part and based on my actual measurements (71cm waist and 92 cm hips) I went with size 0 for the waist and hips. The only change I made was my sway back adjustment, 2 cm .

Most difficult for me was deciding on which fabric to use, I wanted something not too stiff but also strong enough to support the zipper. I went with this polyester, wich I bought a while ago without a project in my head for it. I think it works great for this dress but it was slightly sheer so I had to line the skirt part. For that, I used the skirt from my muslin, a blue cotton ( of course blue, it is like I own all the blue fabric in the world :)) ) It was perfect, I kinda did my thing with attaching it to the dress but it worked. After I attached the zipper to the skirt I attached the lining skirt at the waist of the dress leaving a few cm unsewn at the zipper and that I attached by hand to finish around the zipper. 

and here is how it looks from the inside 

The neckline and the shoulder "holes" are finished with facings, interfaced facings and to get a nice clean edge on my facings I used a technique I learned in a Craftsy class, Mastering constructions: Collars and closures with Sara Alm. You sew the interfacing to the facing, right sides together and then you turn the interfacing to the inside and press it to fuse it to the main fabric.

...and the inside of the interfaced facing.

I could not decide which what color thread to use for sewing my hem so I did it by hand, it looks very clean and nice from the outside.

Very happy with my new dress, also it is the perfect match for this wedges.

The Beausoleil pattern is on sale for a few days on the Itch to Stitch webshop.

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