Bonnell Dress Testing

Once upon a time I found out that Dixie DIY was preparing to launch her laters pattern: the Bonnell Dress. As a follower of her blog, I love pretty much everything she does. I mean have you seen the costumes she has made? Mind=blown. I remember thinking "Man, that's a cool dress" when she posted her second version a while back so when I heard she was looking for pattern testers, I was immediately on board. 

Final fit

 When I was digging through my fabric stash to find the fabric for this project, I pulled out this vintage rayon and felt like it would be perfect for this dress. However I had it enough only for the bodice, skirt and pockets and not for the bodice lining. So I dug some more and found some random piece of some cheap white rayon I had purchased a few years ago.

Final fit

When it came to choosing my size, I fell to size 10 in the bust and size 8 in the waist and hips. So I graded my bodice pattern pieces between the two sizes. I followed the instructions mostly, only adjusting them a little bit here and there and most of the construction changes I did are included in the final pattern instructions. One thing I did and that is not included is understitching the lining in the neckline and armholes. It is a bit tricky move but I like to include that step to ensure that the lining doesn't start shifting and peeking somewhere.

Original fit. No changes

The fit in general was good. The only issue I had was the armhole dept and shoulder to bust being too big. But I fixed that by pinching the excess fabric in the shoulder seam and that did the trick. All the sagging in the armholes and other areas disappeared and the fit was great.

Original fit. No changes

To finish all the exposed seams I used my serger and I roll hemmed the skirt.

Original fit. No changes

Overall I am really happy with this dress. It's perfect for summer and it has pockets!! Somewhere in last fall I started to skip pockets on a lot of garments but ever since we got Kessi, I have felt the need to have pockets everywhere again. Where am I supposed to keep the treats?

*Disclaimer. I received a free copy of the pattern for testing the pattern. I was not asked to write a blog post or advertise the pattern. All opinions are my own.*