As part of Indie Pattern Month via The Monthly Stitch I’ve accepted the One Pattern Two Takes challenge. For this challenge, sewers must take an indie pattern they’ve made before and make it again. Sewers can make the same version of the pattern or choose a different version, but I think the idea is to reinvent the look and demonstrate the versatility of the pattern. Since I just made the Peony dress by Colette Patterns, I decided to make the other version of the dress, this time with 3/4 length sleeves and pockets.

I really wanted to go with a whole new look using this pattern, so I chose a solid fabric rather than a print and I really dressed it up with the accessories. You can hardly tell it’s the same pattern.

The Peony is a great pattern because the dress is straight forward to whip up but you can really change the feel of the dress depending on your fabric choices and sleeve length. I hardly ever make the same pattern twice so I appreciated the challenge to give a pattern another go. Plus, making this pattern for a second time really allowed me to perfect the fit of the dress and to try some different techniques. For this dress, I finally conquered my fear of pockets.

I love pockets but I avoided sewing them like the plague. I don’t know what I was so afraid of, though, since these pockets came together quite nicely. This time I finished the neckline using the facing pieces rather than bias binding. I found that the neckline lays more smoothly with the facing pieces.

I’m not sure what kind of fabric this is. I picked it up for next to nothing at Hancock Fabrics awhile back. I was attracted to the elegant champagne hue of the fabric. Sadly, this fabric frays like crazy and every little stitch shows. I wasn’t 100% satisfied with how the hems on the sleeves turned out so I knew I didn’t want to stitch the hem on the skirt. I tried my handy dandy heat n’ bond hem tape with no luck. In the end I experimented with a narrow rolled hem applied using my serger. I’m really pleased with how that turned out and how my serger is proving its worth with each and every project.

To keep the fraying fabric from getting caught in the rolled hem as much as possible, I followed a trick I learned in Angela Wolf’s serger class on Craftsy. The trick is to roll your fabric under slightly as you feed it through the serger. The hem is not perfect but with this trick it is 98% there.

I’m pleased with the fit throughout. Even though I made a muslin prior to the first dress, the bodice on the other dress is slightly too large and there is excess around my waist due in part to my fabric choice, which had some stretch to it. This version fits better and hugs in all the right places, am I right?!! 😉

As I put the finishing touches on this garment I feared that I had inadvertently entered into bridesmaid territory, which was so not my intention. With the right accessories, however, I think I can vamp it up and keep it from looking too prim and proper.

Sadly, I’ll have to put future garment projects on hold as I have to spend the next two weeks making new patio furniture cushions for a vintage patio set. Does anyone have any experience with that kind of project? Is it as awful as it sounds?