Sew Liberated Stasia Dress

I only recently learned about Sew Liberated patterns when I purchased a few at a fabric store that is closing near where I live. I loved the style of every pattern and wished I could have bought them all. When I got home, I had to see if there was a Sew Liberated group or page on Facebook. There was a Sew Liberated Page and the first thing I saw was a tester call for a dress & top. I'm in love with wearing Maxi Dresses this summer and put in my application to test. I was thrilled beyond words when I was selected.

The pattern is the Stasia Dress and Tee. You can get it for 20% off with the code "STASIALAUNCH".

When I got the pattern, I initially thought I would make the Tee version as a muslin to test the fit before diving into the dress. The Tee is quite fitted and was not very attractive on me. So I will not be showing you photos of that. You'll just have to trust me.

Now the dress - that's totally different. I feel like a goddess in the Stasia dress.

The Stasia dress has a fitted bodice that ends a little below my bust and goes into a very full skirt. The pattern says the dress takes 4 2/3 yards for the maxi length. The pattern also comes with a short skirt. I'm only 5' tall, so after removing 2 inches from the skirt length, I was able to make my dress with 3 1/2 yards. I played a bit of pattern tetris to get it all to fit.

The back of the Stasia dress and tee has a low back. It's almost equal in the depth of the scoop in the front and the back. I used a 2-way stretch liverpool knit for my dress. Since the skirt is very voluminous and heavy, I think using a 2-way stretch is probably best to prevent sagging as it is worn.

I took my photos the day the grass was cut, but we keep our grass fairly tall and it looks like my skirt must be dragging the ground. But it's not. I went ahead a took a photo of me standing on the walkway. The skirt touches the tops of my feet, but the breeze was blowing and blew my skirt a bit in the photo below.

I've already made a second Stasia dress. I'll be posting photos of it soon. I also took the short skirt pattern and cut it to make a peplum top. As soon as I get one made, I'll be sure to share it. This pattern goes together really quick. I think I spend more time cutting out all the pieces than actually sewing.

This testing experience has me eager to sew the paper patterns by Sew Liberated that I recently bought and to try a few more.