MINIMALIST KAFTAN DRESS PATTERN

We were'nt skilled enough for this project

Made this as a live sew along with a friend. We didn't have enough skills or understanding of how to do certain things so we had a hard time with the back piece. We needed to watch YT a bit. We also messed up the sleeves, still not sure why, but we managed to fix it in the end. Our neck line pieces seemed to have shrunk after we ironed on the stabilizator (sorry, don't know the term in english) so that didn't look very nice on the inside. The pattern is graded advanced beginner, and we obviously overestimated our own abilities. Would have loved the possibility yo have access to watch a walk through or something. We looooved the dress (and got to hang out for 17 hours), the front with the pockets is amazing!!

Well that was interesting

I think I bought the wrong fabric, white w stripes of blue embroidery which makes finished piece hang heavy. Today's lesson now learned. I also found the layout/instructions a bit terse in explanation. It took me a while to understand how the pieces come together and that the "shoulder" is actually running middle of back to middle of front and holding pockets. Oh...figuring out the pieces connect to the pockets before connecting to each other is also...interesting. The XL is a little too large or maybe just hangs funny due to the embroidery strips. I'll take another look at the size should I come back to this again. I found myself wishing for a little more support and googling for videos. I didn't find any. Yet, it eventually came together and I'm intrigued by the design. Do you want it? Sure - but maybe make the sample first.

Simple to make and lovely to wear

Overall the pattern was good to work with. I made my kaftan with a lightweight silk so I omitted the pockets. I also read about the hack of sewing the folded pleat into the hem to create a cocoon shape at the back. This gave me the shape I was looking for. I changed the method of construction to include French seams. I’m looking forward to using the pattern again in a heavier weight fabric, with pockets this time.