the Maggie Dress….

In January, Alabama Channin launched their 'Build a Wardrobe' program with a release of their much anticipated

 Maggie Dress pattern.

This simple dress mimics an apron, closes with a snap in the back, ties in the front and
can be made in three lengths…
a top, a tunic, or a dress
(with or without a seam in the front and back for ease of embellishment)

As I was one of those who swooned over this seemingly simple to sew frock, 

I jumped at the chance to buy the pattern.

I ordered the pattern on line, printed it off on my Epson,
then set about piecing it together…

My thought was to save the time (and cost) of running to the nearest commercial printer…..HA!

this was not the simplest task…

and very time consuming, however a tranquil and meditative exercise..

I chose the 'tunic' length and

 made a sample using inexpensive knit fabric before I cut into A/C's yummy organic cotton, which I had on hand in the 'natural' color.

Before I cut into the A/C cotton jersey,
after selecting the size Large (even though I'm normally a medium),

I added an inch to the back side of the pattern (which wraps to the front with ties)….

actually 1/2" to each side 

(I still made mistakes even after making the 'muslin'…ugh…like forgetting to add the inch to the part that wraps to the back, but that didn't seem to make a difference)

and there seemed to be miles of edging strips to cut…

(432 inches to be exact)

and iron in half.

Of course

I under estimated how much fabric I needed for the strips and ended up needing to order more….

And after I sewed these strips to all the edges of the tunic,

using the 'Cretan' stitch for it's stretch and design…

I ended up with this version…

 I think it was worth the effort.

(of course as I'm rarely happy with my first try,  I wish I had a version that is about 6 inches shorter…)

My plan is to make a few more frocks from the A/C selections and toss them in a dye pot this summer…

to be continued...