Before I get started, I’ll apologize to any friends or middle-aged Puerto Rican women (hi mom!) who thought I was about unveil some big news. I’m not betrothed; I just named the dress after what inspired me to make it.

Inspiration:

Kate Middleton’s Issa London Dress

Simplicity 2145

I bought the fabric a few weeks ago during Paron’s moving sale. It’s a very smooth silk jersey blend with some diagonal burnout design.

Changes I made to the pattern:
I made the sleeves MUCH more narrower. I don’t like really baggy sleeves. To me, they’re the part I hate most about graduation gowns.

I love the pleats but they’re a bit too long or my liking. I advise maybe starting the seams and then once you’re almost done, try it on. You can keep stitching along until you find the perfect length for the pleats. If you have a long torso, top of the skirt is perfect, but I don’t.

The bodice was a little difficult to work out because the pleats are somewhat close together and it overlaps at one point. The slinky nature of the fabric also didn’t help and the collar didn’t lay flat against the facing until I pressed it. And I’m not used to pressing stretchy fabric.

Overall, it’s a quick pattern and I like the dress but it can take just as much time to make sure it fits correctly as it does to produce the dress itself.

It was well received in the office and most people knew exactly where the inspiration came from!

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