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Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Mai Tai Dress

Mai Tai, anyone? It's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?


Makerist, a site full of sewing and crafting patterns, tutorials and classes, reached out to see if I'd like to try one of their sewing patterns. I was intrigued by the idea because they carry many sewing pattern designers that I hadn't tried before... Makerist gave me the pattern for free, but all my opinions are my own.


Scrolling through the women's sewing patterns on Makerist, the new-to-me designer Our Lady of Leisure caught my eye, particularly their Mai Tai dress, which had many of my favorite features in a dress: a faced V-neck, a mitered hem, cut-on sleeves, and wide waist ties that originate in the back bodice darts.


For my Mai Tai dress, I chose some fabric from my stash: a summery purple linen/lyocell blend from Joann, part of the Nicole Miller line from a couple years back. It's got the tell-tale crinkle and texture of linen, but a nice, heavy drape from the lyocell. The color probably wouldn't be my first choice, but it definitely grew on me as I sewed with it!


I love the Mai Tai dress...  it's reminiscent of one of my favorite dresses, the Style Arc Adeline, due to its cut-on sleeves and lovely v-neck. However, it has some really cool design details that set it apart.


The mitered, deep hem is really a delight; such a nice, crisp finish on those hem splits! I also can't get enough of the super wide waist ties and the fabulous shaping provided by the back bodice darts. Those two features provide such great waist definition!


I cut a size G, the largest size, and I am happy with my size choice. The size chart is strangely not included in the Mai Tai pattern instructions, though. I had to click back through the Makerist pattern page to find it. I cut the shorter of the two sleeve lengths for a summer dress.


Although, as I said, I love my final Mai Tai dress, I found that the pattern's instructions could use a little bit of an edit. There seemed to be a few steps missing (like sewing the long sleeves on), and some details were a bit confusing, particularly the markings on the pattern pieces. For instance, it wasn't clear whether the back piece was cut on the fold or not, so I had to scroll through the instructions to see that yes, there is a center back seam. But if you're a confident sewist with some experience under your belt, you will have no trouble.


I am so happy with my Mai Tai! It's quite cute. I think I'll wear it to a wedding I'll be attending in a few weeks. Perfectly summery! I love a dress that can be dressed up or down, and I feel like the Mai Tai is just that way.


I can totally imagine the Mai Tai in a wool or poly crepe for winter, too, with long sleeves. Adding it to my list! 


The Mai Tai and the other Our Lady of Leisure sewing patterns are on sale this week at Makerist:


The Mai Tai pattern is 25% off and there is also 10% off all other patterns by Our Lady of Leisure with the code LEISURE10, good through Friday, July 19th at midnight.