As much as I like fancy, heavy-duty fashionable piece, I love minimal everyday pieces. A true stylish wardrobe consist of pieces that work in every aspect of your lifestyle. This includes "throw-on-and-go" dresses that work with a variety of shoes and outerwear toppers. And this dress fits that bill. This is season is all about clingy, stretch, second-skin dressing. After a year of being in pajamas and yoga pants, I think most of us want something with the same effect, but a little more on the polished side.

First things first, the adjustments. I cut the size 16 and made my standard 1" FBA. 

Pardon my wrinkles... sometimes I sit. I also made 1" swayback adjustment and a 2" full seat adjustment. A center back seam is the miracle that makes all of this possible.

Since I'm probably taller than the average pattern model, I decided to raise my side slit by 2". 

I finished the slit hems with a 5/8" hem. And I hemmed the garment at 1.5".

I love this dress so much. It's such a quick and easy sew that I see myself wearing multiple versions of this dress for the rest of hot weather season.

My love of white dresses is endless. And don't you love a good dress that you can't stand still in and you have to swoosh about? That's exactly how this one makes me feel. 

I'd saved this Mara Hoffman dress in my inspiration file last year. I knew I was going to eventually make it. I'd thought about hacking the True Bias Nikko Dress. It would've taken some work, but I could see the possibility. But I was in Joann flipping through the Simplicity catalog and discovered Simplicity 9176. It was as close to perfect as I was going to get.

The style lines were already there... the sleeveless turtleneck, waist seam, and a-line midi length. My fabric is Stretch Crepe Knit I found at Joann.

I just needed to make a few easy modifications to achieve my dress.

I made my usually bodice adjustment. I lengthened the front by one inch, and I made a one inch full bust adjust which created waist seam. I always need shaping right there.

I made a one inch sway back adjustment to the bodice. I made a 2 inch full seat adjustment to the skirt and added 3 inches to the length.

I added a center front seam to the skirt in order to create the front slit opening.

I added pockets and made a belt. You can find my How to Sew a DIY Belt Tutorial here.

In celebration of the Winter Solstice, why not a fabulous winter white evening gown? If 2020, has taught me anything, it's taught me that life is short and I need to be living it to the fullest instead of waiting for the right occasion. So, when I saw my good friend Kim's version of this dress, I knew I had to dig out this pattern and make my own. 

This is McCall's 8037, view B. My fabric is stretch crepe in solid white from Joann.

I made my normal adjustments: I lengthened the front bodice and adjusted the back for my sway back.

This pattern is the Sia Dress from Taree Marsh and I absolutely love it. 

I was drawn to this dress because the silhouette reminds me of McCall's 7974. But there are enough differences to justify me making this.

I cut the size 14. Her pattern has quite a bit of ease and I probably could have cut the size 12. She uses 3/8" seam allowances, except for the center back zipper installation which is 5/8"... so I just went back and stitched everything using a 5/8" and pulled the center back in a little more.

The bodice is generously drafted, so I didn't need to do a FBA. But in case you need to make a bust adjustment, she has great instructions for it. 

Her pattern is drafted for a height of 5'8", so I only needed an inch of length and I made my normal swayback adjustment.

The dress has two sleeve options, I chose the one with the sleeve ties and two to lengths. I love the midi. And it has pockets, of course!

The bodice is cut extremely low. It's open to the midriff. I closed mine up several inches so that it would still show some cleavage, but be bra-friendly.

The dress has a faux placket. You can add buttons, but I decided to leave them off. And it also has side slits.

Fabric: White Tencel Twill from Mood Fabrics.com

Once again, I had on the tv and glanced up at the screen and it was sewing kismet! There was a dress that I had to have!

Hilary on The Young & The Restless (she's pregnant in real life) was wearing this striking pink dress with bows on it and I had to know more. My favorite site for locating wardrobe from my favorite tv shows, never lets me down.

The dress is Black Halo Mystic Bow Dress.

To make my dress happen, I simply looked at the lines of the designer dress. The main thing: princess seams with no waist seam. So, I knew I'd be starting off with Vogue 1532. For the neckline, I went with a pattern I'd already used prior -- McCall's 7728.

First thing first, I had to marry the two patterns and picking fabric. My fabric is from my Spring/Summer Fine Fabrics Haul. It's an ivory rayon/viscose crepe.

For the center front, I cut it on the fold eliminating the center front seam.

I left the back like Vogue 1532, well... I lowered it by 2", instead of having a v-back like my inspo dress. I made bias cut straps for the dress as well.

To create the bow detail, I left the seam on one side open at the upper thigh. I spread open the seam so that it would hang apart and sewn in an inset or gusset... whichever you want to call it.

Here is the inside. Now, I haven't seen the inspo dress in person. This is just how I feel things should go. And as you can see from the results, it works.

I sewed the bows the same you would sew a fabric belt and hand stitched them on.

I installed an invisible zipper.

The dress is fully-lined and I used a nude lining. My lining fabric is Donna Karan Warm Beige Italian Stretch Silk Georgette. My sewing tip: Never skip the understitching. It keeps your lining from rolling forward. I've been noticing lately that a lot of people skip that step and *think* that they can just press and go... nope. There's my way -- there's your way -- and there's the RIGHT WAY.

I finished it off with a 2" deep machine-sewn blind hem. So, that's it. I hope I didn't leave off any details. I hope you all find posts like these inspiring to know that you never have to sew a pattern straight from the envelope -- unless you want to. You can take pieces, add new parts and adjust anyway that you like!