Simplicity 1687

This summer, I began giving sewing lessons to an incredibly talented 14-year-old sewist. She got some home ec. training in junior high, but hasn't done much since.

For her first project, she chose Simplicity 1687.

It was a great match for her shape, but it presented a fair number of sewing challenges:

1. 9 separate pattern pieces
2. princess seams
3. pleats
4. angled waistline
5. piping
6. invisible zipper closure

In retrospect, perhaps I should have suggested a first project with a more straightforward pattern, but my student handled it all really well.

The only problem I found with the pattern itself was that on one of the skirt pattern pieces, the direction of the pleats was not marked. We had to infer it from the instructions and design diagrams.

We made a muslin with extra large seams for fitting purposes. We made some minor changes to the upper back area and hips, but all in all the muslin fit pretty well.

My student chose a fabric that needed to be lined, so we flatlined it with a polyester lining fabric. We omitted the pockets, but kept the vertical piping detail.

This is a really cute design that would flatter many shapes and has lots of seams, which makes alterations easier. It went together smoothly, but I would not recommend it for a first project for a beginning sewer working on their own.

Here's my student in her new dress. Doesn't she look great?