Making this Simplicity 7715 pattern evolved into one of those s p e c i a l projects………. piece by piece, hour by hour, day by day…………… I was starting to hate it but now that it’s over I love it – much like childbirth as I recall.
The gory details are here on the Pattern Review website if you want to know more. I’ll just say every pattern piece but one required a redo – planned and unplanned.
One positive aspect of the pattern is the wonderful ruffle, which I equate to finding an oasis in the middle of the desert. With the exception of this Cynthia Rowley pattern, I have improvised my ruffles, cutting l o n g pieces on the grain. The ruffle consists of four pieces cut on the bias AND the notches are numbered. My ruffler attachment converted this 10 foot piece of fabric into a 5 foot ruffle in about three minutes.
Inspired by the Kate Spade Aubrey wrap dress, I think it’s quite similar.
I left off the sleeve ruffles intentionally.
The blue and white silk reflected a more casual look than I was expecting, but maybe I’ll get more wear out of it this way. I can dress it up or down with shoes and accessories.
Will I make it again? …….. I think I can handle the pain of giving birth to this dress another time or two!
Until Soon.
Amazing. . .I want your energy. You get sew much doing and they are always beautiful!
Thank you, Brenda! I doubt I have more energy than anyone else but much of it has been directed at sewing this year.
Just lovely! I’m enjoying reading about your new garments and am LOVING the pictures. I’m horrible about keeping up with a blog, but am very appreciative that you are doing it. Thanks!
Many thanks for your nice comments! My husband is usually the photographer and is quite sweet
Neither of us know too much about photography so we either get lucky or made do with the existing photos.
Beautiful! At least you have it right so you can make it over and over! I am most jealous it really is beautiful!
Thank you so much!! I hope I have it right for the next go around!
OMG! I love it! I want one! I must read your PR and see how you did it. Too cute!
Thanks so much! You certainly are making some cute frocks yourself these days!!
wow its very beautiful! And I love that its silk. Its like lux casual!
Many thanks! You’re right – LUX casual – I love that!
I just started reading your blog and your sewing is just beautiful!!!
Many thanks!
Funny, my mother says the same thing about giving birth, LOL!
I have many UFOs because a “simple” project somehow became more elaborate as I sewed it. But I’m glad you persevered, the dress looks great. Love the print!
And that ruffle is a thing of genious!
Thank you so much! I promised myself that I would finish everything I started this year…. otherwise this dress definitely would have turned into a UFO…. And I’m soooo glad to have this ruffle pattern
!
Very Pretty!
Thank you so much!
The labor pains are hard but the results are worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The dress turned out great.
A. M aggie
Thanks, Maggie! The dress was worth it but oh my goodness, I was ready to trash it on several occasions. Maybe I can get through the next one without the pain
!
The dress is gorgeous….Great work!
Thank you so much, Sandra!
Just beautiful on you. I think your most recent creation is my favorite and the you make something else gorgeous. I’m Betting the daughters will each want one of these. Off to read that review now!
Many thanks, Elaine for the nice comment. No word from the daughters, yet!
Your dress is sooooo pretty!! Great work
Thank you so much! I look forward to the development of your new blog
Move over Kate Spade
Your competition is strong! I can’t find a dress that precious! LP
Ahh, thanks Libby. I don’t know about that though – Kate Spade sold her company for something like $160,000,000 a few years ago. (That would be one hundred and sixty million dollars
)
It’s gorgeous. I think I hate you. (Please take this as a compliment!)
I’m so flattered by your compliment
this dress is amazing! You did a wonderful job and it looks so “kate spade”.
xoxox,
sandee
from katespade-aholic.com
Thank you so much!………. and I love your blog!! Just became a subscriber!
Gorgeous and it fits you perfectly.
Thank you, Shelia!
Beautiful!!!
Thanks! Just read post on your book; I think I’ve quit reading this year to sew – not good!!
The dress looks amazing, great job on all the alterations. Beautiful!
Thank you so much Lori!
The dress is LOVELY, I am sorry that it was a pain to sew but the final result is worth it. I like it better without the armhole ruffles, you look great in it too. Thanks again for the inspiration, your year of making is really enjoyable. Surely there is no going back?
Hi Heather – Thank you so much for the nice comment! I do have a growing list of RTW starting with a bathing suit and a black sweater set
but sewing is definitely changing my perspective on buying clothes. 
The print is lovely and I think this beautiful dress can be as dressy as you want it to be. Here’s to hoping the next labour will be a lot shorter and way less painful. What an enducement another piece of gorgeousness another version will be. OK, so I’ll stop with the birth stuff – makes me wanna cross my legs
))
Many thanks! Surely the next labour will only last hours instead of days!
Incredible dress and I have left you an award on my blog
Thank you for thinking about me, Lori! Since I received this lovely award about a month ago I bet I’m not eligible to receive it again, so please feel free to pass it on to another blogger. Many thanks again!!
Your dress is beautiful, and so worth all the trouble and effort, IMO.
And it’s so flattering!
Hi Sherry,
Thank you for the comment! I love the dress and the more time that passes, the less I think about the sewing process. It was certainly worth it!
It took me ages to scroll down to find this box to post a comment you had so many – and well deserved I must say. The dress is stunning on you and I absolutely love it – I am sure you will get loads of wear of it it.
Thank you so much Pauline! The dress turned out almost exactly the way I was hoping it would and I do believe I will enjoy it immensely!
As they have all said, AMAZING!!! I just left my very high pressure career to create! After being away far too long from patternreview.com I found you in the red dress competition and, of course, voted for you. You inspire me. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for this nice comment, Renee! Thanks also for the vote in the Red Dress contest! You are going to love being creative once again
I love the print. What a great dress. I call that a Newport dress, so preppy.
My friends have a question for you, other than fabric, what are you allowing yourself to buy, or are you making your socks and underwear too?
Hi Rose – Thanks for the comment!
I knew going without buying any clothes would be difficult enough for me so I gave myself permission to buy accessories including shoes, socks, underwear and jewelry.
What’s funny is that I’ve hardly bought anything at all…… To date I’ve bought 1 pair of shoes, 1 pair of boots marked way, way down 1 package of athletic socks, 1 costume necklace, 1 pair of earrings and 1 handbag. I can hardly believe how little I’ve bought!
I am getting ready to buy a couple of pairs of shoes for spring and summer. It’s amazing that when I quit shopping for clothes I began to scrutinize every potential purchase very carefully.
This dress is adorable and very flattering for you. Today I saw this similar dress http://www.neimanmarcus.com/product.jsp?itemId=prod145140123
and thought the square neck was a good possible variation of your pattern.
Many thanks, Lulu! I love everything about the dress on the Neiman Marcus website! Thank you for sending
what a fantabulous dress! I love the print, and the ruffles are perfect
Thank you!
Nice! I actually prefer yours to the original, the fabric you’ve chosen makes a massive difference! Good job!
Thank you! I’ve seen some pretty cute KS variations of this dress, but I agree the blue/green was not one of my favorites.
I’m so thrilled to be the 57th person who tells you how wonderful this looks on you and what an awesome job you did making it. I can’t believe that you are only in your 8th month of sewing because you must have fashioned yourself an entirely new wardrobe by now!
Thank you, Carolyn! I want to clarify that I am in my eighth month of sewing my own clothes for a year. I have been sewing for quite some time. Years (a few decades now) ago I sewed clothes for myself, then clothes for my children, then simple home dec followed by quilts. After a nearly 10 year absence of doing much sewing at all I decided to sew my clothes for myself for a year.
I didn’t want you to be under the impression that I just started sewing
Beautiful fabric and dress. You look great in it. 10 feet of ruffle converted to 5 in 3 minutes is sort of heroic!
Thank you, Sophia! The ruffler is a wonderful attachment. It sure beats gathering by hand and I doubt I would have made this dress without it!
I love this dress. Now that I know about the style, I keep seeing versions of it everywhere. Bravo!
Thank you, Amy! I loved the entire design of this pattern. Just a few minutes ago I entered this dress into The Vintage Pattern contest at Pattern Review.
I think it’s wonderfull too and you’re so ready for the summer ahead. All the best with your entry.
Thank you for writing! I just noticed the Pattern Review contest two days before the deadline and realized this dress qualified since it was a 1968 pattern
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While watching Project Runway and looking at Mood’s website – I found your blog, what an inspiration! I’ve thought many times about giving up RTW myself. Especially when I am cleaning out my closet. The best part was finding your post about this dress, I have been gearing myself up to make the Aubrey ruffle dress for my daughter’s wedding next May. You’ve given me the push to give it a try – I found a similar McCall’s pattern, wish me luck! And, congratulations on your sewing success.
I’m in love with this dress! I bought some gorgeous dupioni silk a few weeks ago and once I saw this dress I decided it would be perfect for my backyard wedding! Am I out of luck trying to find this pattern at a reasonable price?
By the way, I love your blog! And I was basically raised in Mary Jos
Many thanks for your nice comment! I ordered the pattern on Etsy and you may want to check. I just saw a wedding dress at LaRoque (www.shoplaroque) on FB similar to the Simplicity pattern. I think you might be able to buy a wrap dress pattern and add a ruffle. Let me know what you decide and good luck!