The Chadwicks Dress is finished!

Fabric:

100% yellow linen with embroidered border print from Joann's of all places!

Pattern:

TNT dress pattern

Notions:

2.5 yards yellow ambiance lining

20" tan invisible zipper

4 yards of yellow bias binding

Pattern Adjustment:

*I laid the front yoke piece on top of the regular dress front piece. Then I added a piece of pattern paper on top of both pieces to trace a center front panel and a side front piece.

*The center front panel was traced at 10" wide (a 5" piece with a center front fold) to accommodate my border piece. I added a 5/8" seam allowance to the side seam of the panel.

*I then traced the side front panel, minus the yoke piece, adding a 5/8" seam allowance to it.

Those simple changes were all I needed to make to the front of my TNT pattern to achieve the look of the Chadwicks Dress.

Construction Steps:

~I cut the center front pattern from the embroidered border of the fabric.

~I sewed the darts in the side fronts, then sewed the center panel to each side front.

~The seams were pressed to the center of the panel and then topstitched down using the triple stitch on my Janome.

~The yoke was then added to this piece and the same topstitching applied to that seam also.

A few simple sewing steps and I had reconstructed the front of the inspiration dress. Since I couldn't find any pics of the back of the dress, I made it the same way that I make all of my sheath dresses. However, I did use an invisible zipper insertion for this dress. It's an okay insertion...not perfect...not bad. I will keep practicing these until I get better...and I will keep talking about it! *LOL*

The best thing about working with a TNT pattern is that all of the fitting challenges have been resolved. So when I tried the dress on there were no surprises. Except for the fact that I love the way the front panel slims me and how great the dress looks on me. You can imagine something but it doesn't always work...this time it worked better than I thought it would!

This is the third finished piece in the yellow wardrobe. Next up is another skirt. The remaining pieces to be sewn are three jackets and two more dresses. It's looking like I will manage to get all of these pieces finished in time for my 4th of July deadline. I'm really enjoying the challenge of sewing this wardrobe and am glad that you are along for the journey with me!