Simplicity 1358 Sleeveless Maxi Dress Review

You know how sometimes your style is altered by those around you?  I'm that way when I spend time with my sisters-in-law on my husband's side.  I always feel as though they are a little more fashion-forward than I am.  In the summer, my uniform is skirts and tank tops.  But sometimes when we are together I can feel a little frumpy - particularly if we are going out.  They always wear cute dresses and I'm usually in the same old stuff I wear every day.  We had a family reunion at the lake last week, and this year, I was determined to be fashion-ready for any occasion.

This is Simplicity 1358. It's a simple knit tank dress with options for a v-neck/racer-back or a scoop neck/regular tank back in several different lengths.

I sewed view D, the v-neck, racer-back maxi dress with a slit up the front.  As is my habit, I read a bunch of reviews online before choosing my size.  Do you do this? When I read pattern reviews, I'm mostly looking for sizing information.  I really appreciate it when people include their measurements and detailed sizing information in their reviews, so I try to do the same.

I'm a 39.5-31.5-41.5, which is in between the M and the L, but closer to the L. My high bust is 36", so I maybe should have cut the M shoulder and graded out, but I decided not to.  The reviews I read seemed to indicate that the pattern ran true to size, so I went ahead and cut the L.

I put the dress together and was completely dismayed.  The armscye was LOW.  I thought I had just ruined my precious green fabric.  I decided to add the bands as instructed, hoping that they would pull the armsyce in a little.  They did, but not enough. In these pictures below, I belted the dress to see if it was the weight of the rayon pulling down the armscye - but as you can see, the armscye was super low even with the weight supported.

I was determined to make it work.  I took in the side seams at the armscye a whopping 2 inches on each side, tapering to nothing a little below the waist.  I also raised the shoulders 3/4". This saved the dress, pattern-wise.

Fabric-wise, this rayon was not the best choice.  I love how.it feels to wear, and I adore the color.  But it is so heavy that the weight of the skirt pulls the dress down a bit in front.  And it shows absolutely every bra strap, panty line, and tummy bulge.  

Well hello there, bra band!

I am not entirely certain what the best fabric would have been to use here.  An ITY with good recovery would have supported its own weight nicely, but I don't fancy swathing myself in poly during the summer.  Maybe a cotton/rayon/lycra blend.  I will be on the lookout for something suitable, because I would like to make another one of these.

The dress has a front slit option.  I didn't pay attention to where the pattern told me to end the slit; I just put it where it made sense to me. I don't like when slits are too high, and expose my leg above the knee when I sit, so I made it a bit more conservative.

As you can see, the dress is quite long on me.  I'm 5'8" and I did not adjust the pattern length. I think the rayon is stretching out to make the dress longer than it is drafted, but I couldn't tell you how much. 

I wore the dress to church earlier on our trip home, with a long cardigan which helped hide all the back bra lumpiness.  But as it turns out, I didn't get to wear it when I was with my sisters-in-law.  We ended up not going out except on an evening boat ride where we all wore swimsuits and the hats that one of them made for the trip.  I styled the dress in these photos with that hat.  It says, "Go Ask Your Dad."  

As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

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