I'm continuing my trend of pushing my comfort zone and trying new things. Today I am going to show you the Date Night Dress by April Rhodes. I was first made aware of April Rhodes's patterns in the blogging world when she released her Staple Dress. It was one of those patterns that looked good on everyone I saw in it. So, as I organized this series, I'll be honest - I asked for the Staple Dress. Can I just say that I am sooooooooooo happy April asked if I would review her newer Date Night Dress instead!!!

I was a bit leery of how this dress would fit my curves. I've never worn a dress without a defined waist line, I also rarely leave the house with my knees showing. And then there was my fabric choice - a silky cotton I picked up at Joanns in a large VIBRANT floral print. I knew I was headed towards an epic dress, or an epic failure.

I'm going with epic dress - and let's just say it was epic-ly cold to be wearing a flimsy dress outside - I'm still not warm!

The dress has flutter sleeves that are incredibly flattering to arms everywhere. There are no closures, no elastic, no difficult sewing... and the results are a beautiful dress that you can whip up during nap time. The pattern also includes a slip pattern - I chose not to make the slip, but that meant I needed to wear a tank top under the dress. The armscye of the sleeve is open to the rib cage, so you need something to cover your bra. I'm thinking a future version I make might be a lace dress over a solid colored slip, that would be gorgeous!

Now it is important to think through your fabric choice with this dress. You don't want a fabric that is going to cling to you (that isn't cling - that is 15mph winds!). If you are doing the slip underneath, you can go pretty sheer on your dress, but if like me you aren't making the slip - you need to make sure your fabric isn't see through. You can use both wovens and knits in this pattern, but you need to watch the drape. I would not make this in a traditional quilting cotton, but cotton lawn, voile, and silky cottons (like I used) will all work well.

Details:

Sizes XS - XXL (I made the L top and graded out to the XL for the hips and skirt)
Flutter Sleeve
Shirttail hem (slight high low)
Scoop neckline with back box pleat
Included Slip Pattern
Prints on 30 B&W pages that go together easily
Beginner Sewing Level
Clear instructions with pictures to walk you through
This pattern uses french seams so that you don't need a serger