Fleur Dress by Winter Wear Designs
/Save $2.00 on the Fleur Dress with the code PRsave2.
Ok, truth time. Sometimes I get a little nervous when I’m set to review a pattern by one of my sewing sisters - what if I don’t love it? What if it doesn’t fit my kiddo well? What if…?? In this case, there was no reason to worry. AT ALL. The Fleur Dress was a great fit (and fit as expected), the instructions were fantastic (there’s even a video to help with construction!), and honestly, it was even a super fun sew, too.
Here’s my advice with this one. When Suzanne advises that you read the pattern thoroughly, and then read it again and look at the pics, and then watch the video if you want - you should listen to her. SHE KNOWS. I’m not too great with spatial orientation types of things, and it can be really hard for me to envision how pieces should fit together - pleats in particular can be a challenge - but the tutorial is incredibly detailed and clear and I hardly even needed my seam ripper. Now THAT’S saying something. ;)
It’s hard to say what the signature feature is of this dress, as there are quite a few. The neckline is a wide scoop, almost a boatneck, and it fit my narrow-shouldered girl quite well with minimal slipping. I definitely recommend following the measurement chart and blending sizes if you need to - Suzanne includes great tips and diagrams for how to do this in the tutorial. There’s a huge size range, as with most of the WWD patterns. This one goes from size 1 all the way to 16. I ended up sewing a size 4 for Miss P with the size 6 length, as her chest measures just under 23” but she is 46” tall. I did the vintage length and it was perfect for her.
The back is super cool and has a deep scoop, a center strap, and a small peek-a-boo opening with elastic casing just below it. The skirt is even cooler, if that’s possible. It’s super wide but is fitted to the bodice with no gathering at all - a combination of deep pleats and awesome drapey flanges at the side seams bring it all together for a great finish.
The Fleur Dress is drafted for wovens, and the bodice is lined. I used an embroidered white cotton from Joanns and lined with white Kona cotton, which worked well. I used a Stenzo poplin from Mabel Madison for the skirt, and I’m really glad I did. It has a great drape and nice weight, both of which made it perfect for the skirt and its flanges. It held the pleats well, and was a dream to sew.
This took me a few hours to sew, mainly because it involved a little more thinking time as I assembled the skirt. I appreciate that it’s different than the lined-bodice-and-gathered-skirt dresses that I tend to sew for Miss P - it stretched my skills a bit and yielded a few “wow, that’s so COOL!” moments while I was sewing. If you’re looking for a fun wovens project with unique details, the Fleur Dress might be a good one for you.
Until next time,
Rachel
