Blogger Network #4 – Minerva Crafts Meet-Up Outfit Reveal – Liberty Print Party Dress!

So here it is, my finished Minerva Crafts Meet-Up party dress! Did you come to the Meet-Up on Saturday? It was such a fun day and it was so exciting to see all the other bloggers reveal their evening outfits at dinner. You might’ve caught some of the ‘Big Reveal’ photos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram over the weekend.

The dress I made for the evening used the New Look 6243 dress pattern; I chose to make view C, which has a fitted, panelled bodice, a flared skirt and wide straps. My fabric choice was a lovely big piece of Liberty lawn in a red/blue floral print – you can find the exact same fabric over on the Minerva Crafts site here. As soon as I found out that we had to make a dress for this June evening get-together I just knew I had to make something fit for a summer garden party. I think this fits the bill perfectly, no? It’d also look great at a summer wedding!

The New Look/Simplicity 6243 pattern itself is the most complicated thing I think I’ve ever made, so I’m very proud of the end result. The dress has several bodice panels, a lining and an invisible zipper so patience really was key as I sewed it together. As I’ve mentioned previously, getting the fit right is something I often struggle with, so I made sure to measure and pin and measure and pin constantly as I stitched the parts of the dress together. Even then I’ve still ended up with a bit too much fabric in the front so I have to be sure to sit up straight! My major bug-bear is that I didn’t measure the straps accurately enough so, once complete, they were about an inch too long and kept falling off my shoulders! A quick pattern hack later (read: I folded the straps under a bit and stitched them to the lining where you can’t see) and the dress was ready to wear. Pretty much.

I hope you love my Meet-Up dress as much as I do – I can’t wait to wear it again! Did you get yourself over to the Minerva Crafts centre on Saturday? I’d love to see your pictures and hear your thoughts on the day if you were there!