Sewing My First Two Myosotis Dresses – A Pattern Review…

It took me so long to get around to sewing up the Myosotis Dress, I think it sat in my pattern stash for almost a year before I finally gave it a go and I really don’t know why it took me so long.

I think initially I simply couldn’t decide which version to make.  I loved the frilly sleeve but wasn’t sure how it would sit under a cardigan (a very important question!) and while I loved the bottom frill, I just wasn’t quite sure about that either.

So, after a lot of overthinking (who me – never!) and a lot of putting off I decided it was high time I gave this pattern a go.  After all, so many other people had made it and loved it, surely I would too.  I had some lovely navy lemon print viscose in my stash from Stoff and Stil which I thought would pair well with the pattern so that’s what I chose to use for my first version.

I cut a size 34, for this size the measurements are bust 31.5”, waist 23.5” and hip 33.25”.  My actual measurements are bust 32”, waist 27” and hips 36” but, knowing that this dress comes up quite oversized, I went by the finished garment measurements to choose which size to make rather than my actual body measurements.

I wanted to change the skirt to a tiered skirt rather than a skirt with an added frill so I cut out my skirt pieces for version A but instead of cutting them as they were, I worked out what length the skirt would be if I sewed the pattern as it was and then instead of cutting the skirt and frill as they were, I halved the finished length of the skirt and made my tiers equal lengths to give that wider tiered, gathered feel.

Since it was winter at the time of making, I did consider making this a long sleeved version but when it came to cutting I didn’t have enough fabric so I went for the plain short sleeve instead thinking I wouldn’t have my under the cardigan problem with that version.

I kept everything else from the pattern the same and made the bodice exactly as the pattern is drafted.  I found the pattern came together very nicely and was quicker than I thought it would be to sew up.  There are quite a lot of darts to the bodice so it’s important to make sure you mark these onto your fabric at the time of cutting.  The mandarin collar is a little fiddly but I found it came together nicely, I was worried at first that my collar wasn’t sitting very flat but I gave it a good press with a lot of steam and that helped a lot.

When it came to the skirt, I assembled and gathered my tier pieces in the exact same way that the pattern suggests you sew the skirt and frill – there’s a lot of gathering there and it did take a little while to make sure everything was sitting neatly and evenly but I got there in the end. 

When it came to turning up my dress, I realised that I could have given myself a little more length in the bottom tier to accommodate the hem in order to keep my tiers at a similar length.  I noted that for next time 😉

I made my second version of the Myosotis from this amazing blue and black animal print fabric, also from Stoff and Still and since I had a little bit more fabric this time I decided to try out a long sleeved version.

To lengthen the sleeves I simply used the short sleeve pattern of version A of the dress and lengthened it straight down to the length I wanted plus a seam allowance of 3cm.  I wanted the sleeve to be quite wide at the cuff in order to be able to elasticate it as I really like this look and it’s a super quick and easy way to finish a sleeve.

This time, for the skirt, I made the same adjustments to the pattern pieces to make the tiered skirt panels but I made sure to adjust the length of my bottom tier to give more allowance for the hem which worked much better.  I absolutely love this long sleeve version.

Overall I am so pleased with how both of my versions of the Myosotis pattern turned out.  Personally I love the oversized feel of the dress and I didn’t feel the need to bring it in with waist ties or a belt but I am glad I sized based on the finished garment measurements rather than my actual body measurements or it would likely have been huge!  Something to note if you’re planning to make this dress too.

Have you made a Myosotis Dress yet?  What did you think?

Until next time, happy sewing!

Sally xx