Cream Ponti Swing Dress

I'm so glad to finally have this dress complete! I tend to always want to get my sewing projects finished as soon as possible, and as such, don't usually attempt anything that looks like it will take a long time. This dress was a bit of an exception to the rule! I used the same swing dress pattern that I featured in a previous post, Stripe Ponti Dress Inspiration. In the end, I had to give up on my dreams of finding striped ponti fabric. As it turns out, ponti isn't always in ready supply here in Melbourne, and so I ended up buying this cream ponti from Lincraft. The dress has a full lining throughout, although I decided not to line the sleeves. The materials for the dress were certainly very affordable, however this isn't a quick dress that you can make in one sitting. I also found that since I hadn't sewed with a lining in so long, I had forgotten a few things! If you're feeling the same as me about sewing with a lining, here are my tips:

• The lining needs to be made in reverse to the outer fabric (the zip slit needs to be on the opposite side). This is so that the nice side of the lining will sit against your skin, and the seams can be hidden behind the outer fabric.
• This pattern suggests that some pieces of the lining are sewed into the seams of the outer fabric. I did things a bit differently. Instead, I sewed the lining pieces as I made the dress, as though I was making two dresses. After sewing the zip in place, I then inserted the lining into the dress and attached it to the zip seams (as per instructions). I found that sewing the neck lining with the outer fabric lining was a bit difficult. I ended up sewing the neck line of the lining first, attaching it at the two shoulder seams and then hand sewing it down along the neck line of the dress (taking care not to stitch through to the outer layer).

My final tip is that you may want to make the dress shorter. I cut the pattern to full length, however when I got to finishing off the hem, chopped off about 15cm. I found that it was just too long, however this will depend on your body type and what length you are usually comfortable with.

The effort has definitely paid off, and I'm looking forward to getting some wear out of this beautiful dress!