i had it in my head that i wanted to make this exact dress, and it was driving me bonkers that i couldn’t find the time to get it done earlier in the summer! but finally, with a labor day vacation to central oregon looming, i got it made.
the pattern is jamie christina’s mission maxi view A, a dress i’ve seen lots of gals make (my all-time favorite is Kelli’s tie dye version). i bought the paper pattern at Bolt, which was a good decision (vs PDF) because the two pattern pieces were so big, i had to move to my living room floor just to trace my size!
i ended up tracing it onto good ol’ freezer paper because i didn’t want to burn through my precious swedish tracing paper. it worked great for lining up the print and i ironed the freezer paper to my fabric before cutting.
the fabric is desert blanket KNIT, a print from April Rhodes’ Arizona line for art gallery fabrics. the fabric is from my sponsor LiMa Sews. i’m so in favor of fabric companies printing on knit these days! i had never felt AGF’s knit and there’s so much more variability in knits than any other substrate, so i was really curious to get my hands on some. turns out it’s very nice – not too thin, not too thick. the colors are vibrant, it has nice recovery, and enough body not to slink around and frustrate you while sewing. it’s 95% cotton 5% spandex, which makes it perfect for apparel.
honestly though, despite just two pattern pieces (plus binding) it took me about 45 minutes just to place my pattern exactly how i wanted it. you see, though the print is super great and interesting, the repetitive pink circular designs also have a high potential to place…“targets”…on certain parts of the body that i didn’t necessarily want to be targeted, ifyouknowwhatimean. i was also worried about side pattern matching on a pattern meant to hug curves. i think it all worked pretty well, although it turns out i still ended up with less-noticeable-but-still-there-arrows-to-the-boob targets. haha. unavoidable i guess! 😉
speaking of, this dress is nursing friendly! yay for that! i plan on wearing it with a cardigan pretty much all the time, but it’s also a fantastic swim coverup. it’s a form fitting design, though, and i made it even more so because there were jodhpur-esque bump outs in the upper thigh area that i had to slim down. the fit is spot on elsewhere, so i guess i’m just a bit less hourglass-y than the pattern expected me to be.
i left the dress unhemmed as suggested in the pattern, and trimmed off about an inch from the bottom after trying it on to get the perfect length (i’m 5’4”).
the pattern was really nicely put-together, the knit sewed up great, and aside from a few places where i missed the binding while topstitching and had to hand-sew it down on the inside, was a frustration-free sew! i’m happy to have this dress in my closet and happy to have the pattern in my stash, too. the pattern even has a cutting line for a tank top (i wear tanks daily)! only issue is it’s got a racerback which causes normal bra strap visibility problems…i wonder if i could alter that a bit though? seems easy enough.
sorry, no good back photos to show ya. best i can do is a side view. the fit up top is really nice, i’m so happy with it! neckline is great (i raised it about 1/2″ but i’m not sure i needed to), armholes are the perfect depth, it just worked really well. phew!
anyway there ya go. a sneaky end-of-summer maxi dress. i’ll thank myself for this one next june/july.
>> O <<
P.S. i received the fabric for free from my sponsor LiMa Sews. she’s pretty awesome.
P.P.S. thanks once again to my husband for the photos!
skirt as top 
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I’ve have a Mission Maxi combo stuck in my head too. Yours looks fantastic, must find time to make one!
Holy cow this looks awesome! it REALLY looks store bought (I hope that’s a compliment to you because it is meant as one!!!). Everything fits perfectly and the binding is PERFECT. The placements of the patterns are perfect. You look incredibly tiny in it too!
i do take “looks store bought” as a compliment, thank you!! haha.
you look amazing!!! And the dress is beautiful, great knit isn’t it?! yay for more of it! I’m also totally conscious of placing prints on said body parts, at least I try to be. Looks gorgeous!
thanks, anna! yeah it’s really nice knit. you just never know but this stuff is great.
Looks great!
Love the pattern! Nice job!
beautiful, and the pattern placement looks perfect-o! i’m so excited to try out some of these knits, glad to hear they’re easy to work with!
Woah, pretty! It’s the perfect fall print. I hadn’t thought about placement of the pattern though, before I made the dress that I’ve got up on instagram… shoot!!! Must double check:)
hehe yours looks great! the off-centered placement is perfect for the type of dress you made. love it!
Kristin, I know I say this every time, but your self-sewing is so inspiring. I love it. It never looks handmade – and I mean that in the very best way. Also, I feel like if I wore this style I would look pregnant, even if my stomach was flat. But it looks so good on you! Spending the time to place the pattern so perfectly paid off and I think the arrows look perfect.. It might look strange if they were below your chest or cut off, you know? So well done!
oh thank you Rachel, you’re the best. I am a bit self-conscious in such a form-fitting-everywhere dress but it’s perfect with a cardigan, comfiest ever. 😉
Ha! I didn’t even notice the arrow boobs until you pointed it out and put a close up in my grill. I think you placed it perfectly, actually! That is a major point about a bold fabric like that, I’m not so sure I would have stopped to think about it before I started hacking into the fabric! I think it makes you look taller than 5′ 4″ and the fit is beautiful. I love your pattern reviews, so honest and helpful. You’re one of those bloggers I wish could come over and hang out and sew with me!
Haaaaaaa! YOU’RE WELCOME. And thank you so much! Oh man I’d love to sew with you – sewing is even better when it’s done with friends. 🙂
gorgeous dress and you look beautiful in it!! i think you did an awesome job with the pattern placement!!
love this! i think your print placement is perfect, this fabric looks so good as a maxi!
Awesome
gorgeous, kristin! i love those art gallery knits. so soft!
thanks erin!! yeah they’re so great!
It looks great! Love that fabric!
looking good, K! maybe the arrows can help baby C find his dinner… heehee! I love this fabric- it’s so perfect here.
HAHA i knew i could count on you. he has NO TROUBLE with that. 😉
You did an amazing job on this dress. All the extra time you took was so worth it.
thank you! 🙂
This dress is great. Love the photos, too!
You look amazing in this dress!! Love it so so much! And, honestly I didn’t notice at all the arrows to the boobs till you said something….the pink dots on the other hand…i would have noticed! Serioulsy this dress looks fantastic on you!
Had to stop by and tell you in person, well more in person than Insta, that this is utterly glorious. A perfect pattern and fabric union if ever there was one!
Beautiful blog, beautiful work, a new follower
xo from Argentina
Adorable! This dress is so comfy cute! And isn’t the AGF knit great? I have it in a print from Caroline’s line.