New Look 6340 in StyleMaker Fabrics Denim

I've been saving denim dresses on Pinterest for awhile. Every now and then I go back through the file and review what I've saved.  Looking at the images in the file, I really wanted to use the New Look pattern to make a denim version of the dress with a few updates.

Fabric ~
Midweight denim with a little stretch purchased from StyleMaker Fabrics last fall. Here is one and another one similar to what I bought.

Notions ~
2 7/8" orange & metal buttons from the collection
22" blue invisible zipper

One more thing to note, everything to make this dress came from the Sewing Cave, the fabric and the notions. It thrilled me that it all was in the cave. I'm trying harder to use the items stored in the sewing cave for my fall/winter sewing.

Construction ~
The pattern alterations that I made to the pattern are the same as I made for the border print version. This time instead of making the alterations directly onto the fabric, I made the adjustments to the pattern pieces.

The hemline was lengthened for the front and back pattern pieces by 2". The shorter length works for summer but since this is a fall version, I wanted just a little more length on the dress.

Then I added the pockets to this one since I hadn't used them in the prior versions. Buttons were added to the pockets along with topstitching to highlight the pockets.

This version definitely needed the invisible zipper I added to the back. It makes getting into and out of the dress easier and the loop/button closure isn't appropriate for a fall dress, in my opinion.

Also all of the seams were topstitched except for applying the pocket to the dress and around the invisible zipper.  I used the triple stitch lengthened to a 5 on my Janome 8900 QCP. I wanted the topstitching to look similar to what's on jeans.

A few pictures of the dress ~

Conclusion ~
I love this dress pattern. My three other versions were perfect summer wears and I'm glad I was able to figure out a way to use the pattern for fall. I also loved making this one because even though it's a simple silhouette, the changes made it a more substantial sew. Also I got to work out some design issues that intrigued me creatively. Added up, all of these factors made this a favorite sew. It also fits into my work wardrobe and the style of dressing I'm sewing/wearing now.

Of course now I'm thinking of other ways I could work with this silhouette to make a few more dresses for fall. This was the first garment completed during my end of summer/Labor Day weekend sewfest.

As I stated before, the fabric for this dress was purchased from Style Maker Fabrics. Michelle has a great selection of denim in various weights. You can see her denim selection here. I've purchased a few more pieces of denim from them so look for more garments this fall/winter made using Style Maker Fabrics.

If you're interested in purchasing any of the amazing fabric from Style Maker Fabrics, use the discount code - DIARY17 - to receive a 10% discount off your order. Don't forget that Michelle is matching discount amounts to give to local charities for hurricane relief. The discount is good until Saturday, September 16th at midnight PST.

HAPPY NATIONAL SEWING MONTH!