Category: Simplicity 8384

African Wax Print Dress

My African wax print dress project.

The Dress

For quite a while now I’ve wanted to try a project using an African wax print. There are so many beautiful examples all over the internet and in real life where I live (in the Maryland/DC area). The best thing about this fabric option for me is that there are so many different places here to buy authentic prints locally. So after reading Threads Magazine (issue #202), I decided now was as good a time as any. I purchased my material from a local fabric store. Then I had to decide on what dress pattern I was going to use.

woman wearing S8384 dress front view

I decided to use Simplicity 8384. This was a great pattern choice for this because I wanted to make something without a lot of details. The fabric should stand alone as the focal point in this case. Because I have made this before, I didn’t need to make any adjustments. Like with the previous dress I made, I used snaps on the inside of the placket rather than buttons on the outside. I didn’t want buttons competing with the fabric design.

woman wearing Simplicity 8384 dress back view

The Fabric

For those of you who don’t know, African wax print fabric is sold in 45″ widths only. The color saturation is such that either side can be used as the “right” side of the fabric (at least for this piece). The width is definitely something to keep in mind if you are looking to buy a piece of fabric but you’re not sure what pattern you might use or what you might actually make with it.

close up photo of the African wax print fabric

All in all, I’m glad I finally bought and used this fabric. I have seen so many beautiful dresses, suits and skirts made from this type of fabric both on the internet and in real life, that it was something that I really wanted to use. While I’m not giving up my love of floral fabrics, I always want to give something different a try! Besides, having more fabric options is a great thing in my opinion.

The Pattern

Simplicity 8384 pattern envelope front
This is the pattern I used for this dress

Summer Dress and Sewing Plans

This is something I planned on making for about the last 3 months or so. I wanted to enter a contest and this was one of the patterns that could be used as an entry. Since I already had it, I thought “no problem”. The entry wasn’t due until July 1st. That was before I got sick in June which put my sewing off for about a week or so. So, on June 29th, I decided to go for it. Miraculously, I made this in 2 days!

Simplicity 8384

This is Simplicity 8384. I used a stretch cotton twill that’s fairly light-weight. This is View C which is the shortest of the dress lengths. I was concerned about making the handkerchief hem (I thought it would be much more difficult), but everything worked out well. As you know if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I love pockets so this was another reason for me to love this dress.

The dress features elastic in the back to help hold it in and give it some shape. It just helps to accentuate the waist. Otherwise it would be fairly shapeless and I don’t wear garments like that. It’s just not a good look for me. Since I’m sort of rectangular shaped, I like anything that makes me look like I have a waist!

I didn’t need to change the pattern in any way. The only thing I did differently was to use sew-on snaps instead of buttons. It just seemed that there was enough going on with the polka dots. I didn’t want to add anything extra to the dress.

This is a perfect little casual day dress that’s great for summer.

Now as for future sewing plans, I’m in the process of making myself some shorts, then on to a couple of T-shirts. I have a new pattern I want to try for that. I feel like I’m getting back on track with my sewing and blogging so I need to continue and forge ahead. I made good progress for the first half of the year. Now that we are into the second half (unbelievable), I want to continue working towards my goals and sharing my journey along the way.

Until next time…