Eve – floaty and fun to make!

The Sew Over It Eve dress is a classic in the indie sewing world canon, everyone seems to have made it – and I joined the party! This Eve is a wearable muslin (I rarely make unwearable ones), and I definitely have some changes I’d make – but I think I’ll try it again.

I used a lilac viscose bought from Rainbow Fabrics at £15 for 5 metres, so I’m not sure how long it will survive. It creases very easily and is quite unforgiving in showing VPLs etc but it was simple to work with for making a muslin. I was expecting hemming to be a nightmare but all went well, and I french seamed it (for practice) without any trouble whatsoever. That said, I did starch it within an inch of its life!

I found the pattern easy to work with and the instructions were clear. Everything seemed to go together quite intuitively and I had no difficulties with any of the steps.

I made a bit of a mish-mash of sizes – 16 at the shoulder, 20 at the waist, 16 at the hips – which has resulted in a better fit around my shoulders than I’ve achieved before – it looks like it fits my frame at the top for once, though I need to work on my grading!

My modesty pin on show!

To be clear, the sizing seems to be consistent with SOI’s other patterns, but I still haven’t mastered it for me.

I did a very poor full bust adjustment but it didn’t work as well as it should have – the wrap is a tad too low-cut to wear without either a top underneath or a pin holding it in place.

I always need to add about 2 inches of length on the torso, but this has, I think, resulted in the end of the wrap being too long. It now extends too far beyond the  hole in the waistband designed for the ties to come through.

I love the flutter sleeve and yoke.

I expected to hate the flutter sleeves as too girly, but I actually really love them, and I loved the whole process of putting them together! I got to practice my narrow hemming skills and was really pleased with the result, and putting them into the armscye ( complete with French Sleeves) was a doddle. True, they aren’t the most practical for wearing jackets or cardis, but now that the weather is saharah I don’t need to worry about that! 

Another feature I was surprised to find I liked was the hi-lo hem. I like the length at the back, and I leef like it gives the skirt an airy, floaty kick. I could probably fo with taking a sliver out of the back bodice length (I need to learn a Sway Back adjustment next) but I don’t mind it being a little looser.

I will definitely make this again, I think this is a versatile pattern. The fluted sleeves and hi-lo hem make it feel a bit wedding-y to me so next time I’ll try the alternatives. Once I have the FBA nailed down I think this will become a staple.