Pattern Review: New Look 6067 or the $3300 dress
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Pattern Description: Misses’ pleated dress in two lengths with sleeve and belt variations. I made view A which is the modeled version on the left.
Pattern sizing: 6-16. I made a straight 16 but shaved a little of the hip curve off.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? YES! YES! YES!!!
Were the instructions easy to follow? Very easy to follow. I love Simplicity’s and New Look’s instructions. Very clear and good pictures.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
LIKES:
- I loved the femininity of the silhouette. Not too girly. Just right.
- I loved that I didn’t have to do an FBA, so if you are a C cup or smaller, the bodice might be a little blousy on you.
- The ease on the sleeve cap was not excessive. I didn’t have any problems inserting the sleeves. Yay!
- LOVED the obi belt. It really makes the dress.
DISLIKES:
- The pattern has you add the bodice facings on top of the bodice lining. Strange. I’ve never seen that before. I think it adds unnecessary bulk to the neckline seam. Next time will draft the bodice lining to account for adding a facing.
Fabric used: A delicious silk/cotton print from Elliott Berman Textiles. I bought it at the first shopping day that Robin and I hosted in 2010. It was a dream to work with — didn’t slip around at all. It behaved like a cotton, but the silk gave it a gorgeous touch and feel sensation.
Pattern changes or design changes made:
- As I mentioned earlier, I took out some of the hip curve out since I have a rectangular shape.
- I added a skirt lining as the pattern only has a lined bodice.
- I took out the vent as the skirt had plenty of walking ease without it.
- I interfaced the neckline opening based on advice from Sheila and it worked great!
- I interfaced the zipper area.
Any new techniques learned during construction of this pattern? Yes, piping! I tried piping only once before when I made some home dec pillows. And either I didn’t have the right foot or just plain didn’t use it well, but that piping was horrendous. Absolutely horrendous. For the dress, I used the zipper foot that came with my Emerald 183 and it did a great job getting the needlesuper close to the piping. I do have one tip even though it’s kind of obvious… Sew slowly to ensure accuracy.
Any problems encountered while sewing this pattern? No problems per se, rather “opportunities for perfectionism”. 
See my last two posts about perfectionism here and here.
Which sewing machine(s) did you use for construction? Primarily I used my Singer Featherweight, but I did use my Emerald 183 for the piping and the zipper insertions. I also used my Brother 1034D serger to serge the SAs of the sleeves. And I did a whole lot of hand sewing for the hem, and attaching the lining to the zipper tape. I would say the ratio of use was 90% Singer Featherweight / 6% Emerald 183 / 1% Brother 1034D / 3% Hand sewing.
I loved using my Featherweight for constructing this dress. Just loved it. I will definitely be using this machine as my primary machine going forward.
Will you sew it again or recommend it to others? I will definitely sew it again and again. I think that with different fabrics and using different views of this pattern, no one will know it’s the same dress. I heartily recommend this pattern. It’s a flattering dress for many different figures.
Conclusion: This dress is just gorgeous if I do say so myself. It’s comfortable to wear yet feminine. I love the tulip shape of the skirt. The obi belt is one of my fave details. I felt beautiful all night wearing it. This is a great, versatile pattern. Go and buy it pronto!
And finally, why did I call it my $3300 dress? Well, I tallied up all the hours I spent making it and the total amount was 33 hours from cutting the fabric to hemming the dress. If I charged myself $100 per hour, I would have to pay myself $3300 to buy the dress. Now, I know that probably no one makes $100 per hour sewing for a living. That’s just an arbitrary rate I picked. But wouldn’t it be nice if someone valued my sewing that much? I would definitely work as a professional sewist for that kind of cash! Wouldn’t you?
Now for the pretty pictures…
Hand stitched lace hem
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obi belt
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bodice pleats
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invisible zipper and back darts perfectly aligned and matched
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sleeve
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I love my new dress!!! 
It Is GORGEOUS!! Your opportunities for perfection totally paid off. The pleats on the bodice are unbelievable. Fine work. Definitely worth 3300 bucks!
Elizabeth you look wonderful in your new dress – the bodice pleats and belt look fab on it! Very well done
Absolutely gorgeous! Perfection! Well done!!!!
Your dress turned out wonderfully. It is very flattering and well worth the time you invested.
I love your new dress too. It really suits you. Worth the 33 hours.
Really lovely, Elizabeth. I need to make one of these. Thanks for the thorough review!
The dress looks wonderful. You look lovely wearing it.
Ooooh, really pretty!
Gorgeous! Great job, Elizabeth.
Wow, that’s gorgeous. Great fit and great job with the piping.
Fantastic!!! Worth all your perfectionism!!!
You look awesome!!!!
You did a fantastic job and the dress looks awesome on you. Thanks for the shoutout.
Gorgeous dress.
Only $3300? I think you look like a million bucks. Seriously, doll, all that hard work and your perfectionist tendencies totally paid off. I’m sure you had more that one fella have to pick his tongue up off the floor. You look FABULOUS!
of course it’s worth $100/hour. Your dress is one-of-a-kind, made using beautiful high-end fabric and fits you like a dream.
That turned out luscious, and the colors are great for you!
ooooo, now THAT is a dress and you look fab in it!!
oooh! very nicely done
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Stunning! The attention to detail really paid off…those pleats are impeccable!
Amazing! Looks so fabulous! And the details are great!
Beautiful! I love the print, you look fantastic.
Your dress is beautiful and I love your belt.
Your dress fits you beautifully , well worth the perfectionism. I like it alot the fabric is just gorgeous.
Beautiful. I love the pleats.
Looking great! You did a great job, hats down for you
you should be justifiably proud of this dress – really beautiful.
Extremely classy dress. You look beautiful in it. I’ve recently discovered NewLook patterns and have been hugely impressed.
I LOVE IT TOO!!!
You did a smash up job on this dress, Elizabeth! And I love your $100 rate calculation, because it looks like a designer dress.
Beautiful dress!!!
Awesome dress Elizabeth – I love it too!
So super stunning, Elizabeth!
And you SHOULD love that dress . . . gorgeous fabric, great dress design, excellent construction and it looks fabulous on you!
Really beautiful, I will have to acquire this one.
Definitely a $330 dress! Fantastic dress, great fit!!
It is a gorgeouse dress and it looks wonderful on you.
Wonderful dress. You deserve $3300 for the dress. Seriously, how much would you pay a NYC plumber or electrician for 100 hours? Here in LA, they charge $75-85/hr. Custom clothiers that know what they are doing charge $20-50/hr.
(I hired a friend who charged me $20/hr on the understanding that she would only be able to work on my project in between the $50/hr projects she does for the entertainment industry. I had to wait 10 wks for a 8.5 hr job. Well, it took her 8.5 hrs but it would have taken me 3 times as long so it was $ well spent.)
It’s stunning. Beautiful work, beautiful fabric, and beautiful on you! And if someone asked you to make such a lovely dress for them, I think that $3300 would be what they should pay you indeed.
LOVE! Love the fabric, love the pattern, love the look of exuberance on your face, love you. xos
Looking back to your entry on perfectionism, I am totally guilty. But why would anyone want a sloppily made garment if they had control over that?!? I am not only totally guilty but totally over the edge. Your dress is beautiful.
Well now; don’t you look beautiful. Great looking dress.
Hello!
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Looks great on you.
You look awesome! I love your dress.
LOVED your version so much, I made it in a double knit and finished it this weekend. Mine is $1200–I didn’t put as much effort into mine as you did!
Thanks also to the link to Sheila’s blog as it confirmed it was ok to make it in a double knit.