Freya Dress by Tilly and the Buttons

I recently picked up Tilly and the Buttons’ latest book, STRETCH!, while at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. I had seen the Freya Dress and of course had to buy the book! This pattern is relatively simple to make but getting the right combination of stretch and fit was a slight challenge for me. I bought a beautiful mint ponte di roma from Sew Me Sunshine. While the fabric does have 60% stretch, I found that my Freya dress ended up being quite tight.

I chose to trace my pattern across three sizes to fit my exact bust, waist and hip measurements but in the end, I think I should have gone up a size for the top half of the dress. The shoulders ended up being quite narrow and the arms are also tighter than I expected. This was only my second attempt at sewing stretch and while the last dress was also made from ponte, it wasn’t such a tight dress. Sewing something this tight was definitely a learning curve for me. Despite following the instructions for the correct length and width for my zig zag stitch, the arm hole and sleeve seams ripped open after wearing the dress! I ended up having to re-stitch them and am hoping they’re now ok.

Inserting the neck band

The neck band was really easy to insert and fitted into the dress perfectly. It is slightly tight but I do think I just needed to go up a size in general. Aside from my fitting issues, I would say this is quite an easy dress to sew and good for someone who hasn’t yet tried more advanced sewing techniques.

Pinning a sleeve to the dress

The technique for inserting the sleeves was so much easier than what I’m used to with non-stretch fabrics. The sleeve was pinned in flat rather than as a completed sleeve - this made it so much easier! The techniques used to make this dress were so simple that I really don’t have much excuse not to make a second one. Plus, it would be nice to try a different version - either with the additional pleated ruffle or the cowl neck.