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Sewing the Wide Strap Maxi Dress • free pattern (Peppermint)

6 commentaires

The genesis of this Wide Strap Maxi Dress indigo is the result of 2 converging factors…

On the one hand, at the end of the confinement, I did a little shopping therapy and I fell in love with this coupon from Sacrés Coupons.

On the other hand, at about the same time, deprived of a printer for 3 months, I decided to print some very greedy A0 patterns at Go Impression.

ITEM SHOP QUANTITY PRICE
Wide Strap Maxi Dress Peppermint x Elbe Textiles 1 0€
Pattern printing Go Impression 1 3,40 €
Indigo tiled silk & cotton Sacrés Coupons 3 m 38,20 €
Thread Stock 0 €
Total     41,60 €

 

The Free Wide Strap Maxi Dress Pattern

The Wide Strap Maxi Dress is a free pattern published by the Australian magazine Peppermint in collaboration with Elbe Textiles, an Australian pattern designer.

The pattern recommends a fabric that is both stable & flowing: linen ideally.

Elbe Textiles also offers the Lawley skirt as a free pattern.

You see that? I changed my hair!

The Wide Strap Maxi Dress (frankly we’re full of it!) is a long and ample dress, fitted on the bust with chest clips and 2 side slits.

Finally the pockets offer a nice detail with a kind of notch.

The explanations of the pattern are clear and quite detailed and also offer perfect finishes based on flat felled seams and English stitching.

wide strap maxi dress dos / back

Heatwave dress + undercut: I’m ready for summer!

The drawings of the different stages are very well done.

The technical drawing, on the other hand, does not do justice to the model and also forgets an important indication: the center front seam.

And this info is very important because the center front seam is curved.

Wide Strap Maxi Dress Sewing

The pattern pieces… Look out!

The Wide Strap Maxi Dress is not very complicated to sew. There are quite a few pieces:

  • Back x1
  • Front x2
  • Strap x2
  • Back facing x1
  • Front facing x1

However, you may have noticed, my front is made of 4 pieces… it’s that damn technical drawing made me make a mistake. Yeah, there’s a cutting plan. So what? I never look at it XD

So, I had cut my front at the fold and I had a lot of trouble to align the edge of my pattern piece at the fold… and for a good reason! The middle front forms a curve on the chest.

As a result, I had just enough fabric to cut the upper part of the front in 2, but not the whole front. Hence my patching.

wide strap maxi dress devant / front

Modifications

Well, I didn’t really make any modification on this pattern 😉 !

However, I modified the assembly by using fusible interfacing on half of the straps and the pockets.

For the shoulder straps, it’s linked to my fabric: I was afraid it would be a bit soft and wouldn’t fit flat.

Note also – and the instructions say so -, you have to remember to try the dress with the straps simply basted (with pins for example) to check the length of the straps before sewing them definitively (like not like me…).

In addition, for pockets, I think it is essential to iron some fusible interfacing on any kind of fabric in order to get the cleanest possible result on the right angles.

On my side, I removed something like 4 inches on each strap!

Finally, another adjustment related to my size: the 3 inches hem (instead of 1 in) which brings a little weight at the bottom of the dress. Quite nice considering my very light fabric.

wide strap maxi dress de dos / back

No, I didn’t go into the white light!

Difficulties of this free pattern

Contrary to some simplistic free patterns, this pattern requires some experience in sewing.

Thus, I will note the stitching values which vary according to the assemblages, and pockets.

For example, on the slits, you have to make 0.5 cm folds which are not easy. Better have a well-mannered fabric.

For me, it was a bit complicated with my cotton & silk fabric which is not very lively but whose rather loose weave lets it deform easily.

Finally, the adjustment is quite simple to do since the elastic back allows you to adjust the ease of the model to your liking.

Conclusion

I totally recommend this pattern. I wore this dress by 30°+ and I totally validate its status as a heat wave dress ❤︎ ☀️.

I’ve gotten nothing but compliments on it. I think this fabric is really beautiful and I really don’t regret the investment (even if 10 € per meter is not the end of the world either).

Will I do it again? No, not for the moment anyway. 1 dress on this pattern is enough for me, but the pattern being free, the profitability of the pattern is not an issue!

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6 commentaires

  • 6 July 2020 à 14:50
    Fanfreluche

    Ah oui ! cette robe laisse passer les alizés. Idéale pour un été caniculaire. Le tissu est de toute beauté. Moi qui adore le bleu, si je t’avais sous la main, je risquerais bien de te la piquer !
    Profite bien de l’été et des vacances.

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  • 10 July 2020 à 09:47
    zorgleb

    Franchement, si j’étais tombée sur le dessin technique dans un magazine couture, j’aurai passé mon chemin sans hésiter… et j’aurai eu bien tord car ta robe est vraiment chouette !! Si je n’avais pas déjà cousu une robe longue pour cet été, je me serai laissée tenter !
    Bravo à toi d’avoir su voir le potentiel de ce modèle, et bravo pour ta jolie réalisation !
    (et ce n’est pas le sujet de ton article, mais j’aime bien ta coupe de cheveux !)

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    • 10 July 2020 à 10:39

      Je suis totalement d’accord, ce dessin technique est particulièrement raté. Il ne donne pas du tout envie et en plus il n’est pas complet !
      Et merci pour la coupe de cheveux ! J’ai eu un gros doute le lendemain du passage chez le coiffeur mais maintenant je kiffe 😉

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  • 14 July 2020 à 08:24
    Rachel

    Ta version de ce patron est vraiment chouette. Cela fait plusieurs versions vraiment tentantes que je vois de ce modèle, alors même que le patron a quand même un certain potentiel d’effet parachute !

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  • 25 March 2022 à 10:22
    MS EMMA CLARE LANGHORNE

    Love this version, I am making it at the moment, I didn’t notice the the curve at the front seam! I also didn’t look at the pattern cutting out layout! Who does!!

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    • 31 March 2022 à 19:37

      Well, at least we know that we’re at least two of us! XD

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