The Belinda Dress

I'm finally getting around to sharing with you the other favorite dress that Ella and I adore right now--the Belinda Dress pdf pattern by Go To Patterns.

Disclaimer:  The pattern designer provided me with a free copy of the pattern in exchange for my honest review.  All comments in this post are my own opinions.

Go To Patterns released this new design a few weeks ago, and I loved the look of it immediately! The Belinda Dress pattern is written for knit fabrics and is pretty simple to make.  In fact, the only time I used my sewing machine and not my serger was to attach the fold over elastic and to baste the fabric for gathering!  Total time to put it all together was roughly a couple of hours, and the fit is spot on perfect for Ella who is wearing a size 6 now!

First of all, the pattern is one of the most professional packages I've seen lately.  The designer uses excellent photos to accompany the clearly written step-by-step instructions for sewing the dress. And the pattern pieces are simple to print out and put together.

For Ella's black Belinda Dress, I used a ponte roma knit fabric from Joann Fabric and Craft Stores. Instead of binding the neckline and pockets with a knit band as shown in the pattern, I decided to add a little color to the basic black dress by using some fun florescent orange and black chevron fold over elastic.

I think I was channeling my youth from the 1980's with the use of the highlighter yellow tights and the funky blue/green headband--that's one of the reasons I like this outfit so much though!  And in case you are wondering, I did not make the headband!  We picked it up at Gymboree.

This was only my second time to use FOE, and I love it!  Now I need to find more of that fun FOE print!

The dress pattern shows you how to make the dress with or without the large kangaroo style pockets. Since I had plenty of the ponte roma fabric, I added them, and Ella is very glad I did (although she doesn't look it in the photo below (she suddenly got embarrassed as a man walking by noticed her))! Since I purchased the fabric when it was 60% off, the total cost of this dress is under $10!  Can you believe it?

The Belinda Dress pattern has lots of gathering just to warn you in case you don't like gathering! Because the ponte roma fabric is a thicker knit, the front of the skirt took a while to gather because you have two layers of fabric to draw up if you put in the pockets.  It's not difficult--just a little time consuming!  My favorite is the gathering at the top of the sleeve that produces the sweetest feminine effect.

Well, it didn't take Ella long to get over her shyness!  In fact, she had a lot of fun playing around in her Belinda Dress!

So, what are you waiting for?!  Head over to Go To Patterns and check out the Belinda Dress pattern for yourself!  Once I buy some more knit I'll definitely be making another one!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have fun sewing!