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The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress Review

The Avid Seamstress is a London-based sewing pattern company. Now I confess that when the Sheath Dress pattern first came out it did not catch my eye. However, when I was at a friend’s house she was wearing a lovely dress that I liked and she told me it was the Sheath dress. She also kindly let me try on her other version of the dress and I was hooked (aren’t sewing friends just the best?J).

The Sheath Dress The Avid Seamstress Pattern Review
The Avid Seamstress Sheat Dress Review

Fabric Used – John Kaldor Cotton Lawn

I selected a John Kaldor lawn from Minervacrafts for the project. I have sewn with this particular fabric before (Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress here) in the green/teal colourway and love it! It is a bit thicker than a Liberty Tana lawn. It also has slightly more drape with less of the crisp lightness that you get in a Liberty Tana lawn which makes it a great fall weather fabric. It irons like a dream. As far as I am concerned one of the highest pleasures of making my own clothes is the joy of ironing a fabric that responds beautifully to steam and heat.

The print on the fabric is directional though which makes pattern matching quite fabric intensive – I didn’t pattern match across the back except to keep the dots in line but if you want to have a seamless match then more fabric is needed. I used the leftovers to make a simple Burdastyle top.

The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress Sewing pattern review
The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress

The Sewing Pattern

One of the things that drew me to this pattern was the elastic waist band – it’s very comfortable while achieving some shaping. The instructions are well written and you can tell that the designer has put in a lot of work into making this a great project not only for beginners but for the more experienced seamstress too. The attention to detail is amazing. I sewed a size 2 based on my bust and waist measurements and the fit is spot on with no alterations.

Pattern Sizing:

The Sheath Dress The Avid Seamstress pattern review
The Sheath Dress from The Avid Seamstress – In seam pockets

Design Alterations

There were no design alteration as all. I had had the benefit of trying the Sheath dress on at Eleonor’s house. We are the same size and height so it helps to test out a design before committing!

By the end it absolutely looked exactly like in the picture.

The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress Sewing pattern review
The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress – dolman sleeves
Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress sewing pattern review
Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress – Side view

Sewing Techniques

  • In seam pockets
  • Elastic casing
  • Facing on neckline

Based on the main sewing techniques involved I’d place this pattern firmly in beginner friendly zone. It sews up very quickly too given that it doesn’t have a zip or button closure.

The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress Sewing pattern review
The Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress Sewing pattern review

Verdict

I feel very put together in this dress – will definitely be making another one!

The Sheath Dress – Style notes

A great simple-to-sew style. The dolman sleeves are well-suited to many body types. The Sheath Dress design would look great in a chambray fabric.

Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress sewing pattern review
Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress sewing pattern review
Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress sewing pattern review
Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress sewing pattern review
Avid Seamstress Sheath Dress sewing pattern review