Houndstooth Upton Dress

You ever have your eye on a pattern for years before deciding to take the plunge to buy it?  That’s what happened with me and the Upton dress by Cashmerette Patterns.  I’ve been lusting over this pattern for a while but didn’t think it could replace my beloved Simplicity 1873 fit and flare dress.  But then, the expansion pack was released, and all my excuses vanished!  There are so many patterns out there, that if I have to jump through hoops to purchase/access bonus patterns or hacks, I’m probably not gonna do it.  That’s one of the things I love about this pattern – everything is included in one package.  For my first Upton, I sewed up a V-neck, knee-length dress using a houndstooth cotton poplin provided by Minerva.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think once I tweak a few things here and there, this might replace my Simplicity 1873 as my go-to fit and flare dress pattern.  Ahh, I feel like I’m betraying a former lover!  I guess that’s what happens when something better comes along ?

The fabric that I used for this dress is Art Gallery Fabrics Cotton Poplin fabric in a houndstooth print.  I love houndstooth but unfortunately, it’s usually paired with my alma mater’s football logo.  As someone who doesn’t care for football, I was so excited when Minerva sent me this luxurious fabric to play with.  This fabric is 100% cotton, so it’ll breathe well in warmer weather.  It’s also opaque, so there’s no need to add a lining, again helping the wearer stay cool.  After laundering, the colors remained vibrant and this was easy to iron.  It’s a medium weight fabric, but has a great deal of structure, so it holds the pleats in the skirt well.  This fabric proved to be perfect for my Upton dress, but I think it would be super cute as a blouse as well.

The original Upton is a sleeveless knee-length dress that gives you two options each for neckline and skirt type.  The expansion pack builds upon this and comes with 8 bodice options, 8 sleeve options and 6 skirt options.  It’s wild how many dress and skirt combinations you can come up with using this pack.  For my first Upton, I decided to keep it fairly simple.  My dress is a V-neck with a high back, pleated knee-length skirt and tie sleeves.  Can I just say that these sleeves are just the cutest thing ever?  The sleeve options alone are worth the price of the expansion pack.  I made no changes to the sleeves or the skirt when making this dress.  Upton features a fully lined bodice, but since I live in the South and warm weather is here for the next 9-ish months, I made a 2-inch front and back bodice facing instead.  This required straying from the pattern instructions a bit, but it proved to be an easy substitute.  I also extended the bust darts by one inch.  I still need to play around with the bodice to improve the fit.  I chose my size based on my measurements, but I may go down a size in the bodice.  At the very least, I need to trim a bit of fabric from my underarm area.  I might also cut the waistband height depending on my mood.  It may seem like there are a lot of changes I want to make but these are all simple tweaks.  Even without these changes, I’m loving my new make.  I’m looking forward to making ALL the Uptons!  Seriously – I already have fabric for my next waiting on me.