April Sew Along – Pattern A1 and A2 from Feminine Wardrobe – Part 1 of 2

This month’s sew-along, as decided by your votes, is this Sleeveless Dress with Bow Sash from the book Feminine Wardrobe (translated to English).  Those of you who took part in the poll early this month will know that it was a very close fight between this and a the Button up blouse from Stylish Dress Book. But there has to be a winner, so this is what we will sew today!

The dress we are sewing is Pattern A1 of Feminine Wardrobe. The good news is that there are 3 variations of this pattern A.
Pattern A1 – Sleeveless dress with bow sash
Pattern A2 – Giant Bow-Tie Tunic (see pics below)
Pattern A3 – Ruffle Shoulder Dress

Patterns A1 and A2 are long and short versions of the same pattern, whereas A3 incorporates ruffles into the vertical seams. The steps for A1 and A2 are identical, and for A3 the only slight variation in steps are the insertion of the ruffles. So basically this one sewing video tutorial can help all those of you who are sewing one of these 3 patterns.

To kick off the sew-along, here are the list of materials you would need

Pattern A1
XS/S sizes – 1.1m wide x 3.5m long.
M/L sizes – 1.1m wide x 3.7m long.

I only purchased 3m, as I decided I was going to make the ribbon in another fabric, or even do without the ribbon and use a belt instead. I am only 3/4 of my way through making the dress so there are no completed photos of it yet. I will post photos when I’m done.

For Pattern A2 you will need less fabric since it is shorter –
XS/S – 1.08m x 2.6m
M/L – 1.08m x 2.7m

(The difference in fabric width is due to the type of fabric used. Pattern A2 used a silk seersucker in the book, while A1 used a printed cotton lawn)

The sew-along videos will be posted in 2 separate parts.

Today 21st April – Part 1 – Steps 1-4
Thursday 24th April – Part 2 – Steps 5-9

Here’s the video for today. Do watch out for Part 2 that will be posted this Thursday.

For those of you who don’t have this book but would like to get the pattern and sew along later on, here’s the link to buy the book from Amazon.

 

Happy Sewing! And let me know if you have any questions by leaving your comments below.