I made a Davie dress last week and I’ve already worn it three times… I think I might be in love.
The dress is very easy to put together and would have been even quicker for me if I had just marked my notches. I was racing along very happily and my hems weren’t quite matching up. This isn’t too weird for me. I usually need to take a couple of centimetres off the bottom of my dresses so I can be a bit carefree when cutting the pattern pieces at the hem. So I sewed the next front and side front pieces together. Except this time they were even more off than the first side. Something was afoot. I unpicked the pieces and got my pattern out again. I had stitched my pieces in such a crazy way with my centre front backwards 😣. What a goose. I recovered quickly and raced to try it on. I liked it from the first glance… But lesson learnt.
I made this dress in a pont knit from The Fabric Store. I love that indie designers are getting on board this knit fabric trend! This dress is super comfy and very easy to wear. I made the size suggested for my figures but ended up taking it in 1cm on each side. I wanted this to be a fairly fitted dress… I know this isn’t the correct way of doing things but I didn’t have the heart to undo all my careful top stitching.
I made my Davie dress all in one size, not adjusting for pear-shaped-ness of Sewaholic patterns, despite being me more of an hourglass figure. I really like the shape of the skirt so I don’t think I’d grade it down for my next Davie.
Question: Bizarrely my thread kept snapping as I was sewing – sewists: what am I doing wrong?! It was like the fibres in the thread were twisting the wrong way, unravelling itself and becoming very thin. This was super annoying especially when I was top stitching (and there is a lot of top stitching in this dress) Muy extraño…
Dresses & Me 
Hello,
I am looking forward to sew this little dress, yours is very pretty and just fits perfectly. I will pay attention to the notches 🙂
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I love the look of your Davie! I ordered the pattern from you last week and am just about to launch into it! I am wondering though what I should do for sizing, my figure is much like yours, not Peary at all, but a decent bust.. Should I make the size that would fit my bustline or go down a size or two and attempt a full bust adjustment? Or will ponte have enough to give for it not to matter. By the back of the envelope I should be a 8 in the bust, a 6 in the waist and a 4 in the hip..? I’m a little confused, I always thought I had big hips!
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Personally, when I make my next one I will be going one or two sizes small as I would prefer this style with negative ease, but this is just my preference. I made the size suggested for my figures on the back of the envelope but, for me, I think it will look better being fitted as I will make it in a knit… As for the Sewaholic sizing – the patterns are designed for a pear shape (and we know that all ‘shapes’ are subjective!) so that is why the figures are quite different to traditional sizing on MCalls’ patterns… Not sure if that help! Let me know if you have any more questions 🙂
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Lovely! This dress really suits you. I’ve had the same thread probs and always put it down to a fault with my machine, but reading the above comments has clarified things! Thanks for asking the question so that I, too, could be enlightened!
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Awwww thanks Bella 🙂 Yes i was pretty puzzled but I’ve got lots to think about – I think it must be my blunt needle!
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All Davie’s dresses are awesome. I love your sewing passion.
And this Black dress looking super.
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Thank Nubu 🙂
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I really like all the Davie’s I’ve seen so far, yours is so classic! I think I will have to take the plunge and buy the pattern.
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Thanks Zoe, I’ve got lots of wear out of mine despite NZ heading into winter now! 🙂
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This is really a great looking dress on you! I have not caved yet on this one… but I own almost every other Sewaholic pattern- so I figure it is somewhere on the horizon! Anyway, I can totally understand why you have worn it 3 times already!
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This looks fab on you and a ponte would have the perfect amount of structure. With the thread you may have to go up a needle size to get a bigger eye for the thread, or maybe the batch of thread isn’t great.
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Turned out just lovely on you! When sewing with knits, I always have to practice with my machine before I start. Have I got the right needle for the knit, the right thread, the right tension.
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I love this dress, I think I’ll have to take the plunge and buy it. Hopefully it’ll be as cute as yours 🙂
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This dress looks so cute on you! I hate when I forget to mark something super crucial on a pattern and it makes everything a million times harder.
Regarding the thread, did you try re-threading your machine? (I’m sure you did.) Sometimes you can thread it and the thread doesn’t pass through the tension discs.
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This dress looks really good on you. The fabric holds the shape so well, creating a nice silhouette.
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Looks grwat, im a big fan of davie too.
As for your thread, i have had it happen before, and main reasons tend to be, needle eye too small for thread, blunt needle or yhe most tecent one for me was a fault in the thread 🙂
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I think this is gorgeous – and I’d been resisting it so hard!
I find with top stitching (assuming you are using a heavier thread) this happens when the needle eye isn’t big enough. I use the upholstery thread instead of the top stitching thread. It gives much the same look within the thread shredding dramas.
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This is such a pretty silhouette! I agree, no pattern grading needed the flare is really nice. Are you going to make another one soon? Maybe your tension was off with your thread, or perhaps different thread was needed?
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