Customer Reviews
I have been playing with the fit of the Upton for a few years now. I made two dresses so far. But this spring did a few more tweaks to the pattern because I wanted to use it to make a dres for my daughter's wedding. So, this is the princess bodice with regular sleeves shortened to elbow length and the pleated skirt. It is a size 12 GH in the shoulders and blended to 16 in the waist. I did have to do a substantial FBA on it still, lowered the bust point, reshaped the curve, but also moved the princess seams closer to the center front. I also altered the neckline in the front an a bit in the back. The bodice is lace underlined with satin and lined with viscose lining. The sleeves are just lace and the skirt just satin. I made this dress in just a few days because I did not have to worry about the fit, since I pretty much had figured it out in the many muslins I did over the years. I hope to make many more Uptons and want to tackle the fit of the darted bodice next.
I really enjoyed making my wedding dress over a weekend (after not sewing very much at all for 5 years) , I loved the images in the instructions which made it easy to sew up.
Amazing how you can make a pattern that other companies seem to miss , that fits with very little alteration well worth the money
I ended up making several muslins using the different options and it helped me learn so much as beginner sewist!
The pleated skirt looks challenging but was easier than I thought it would be and quite fun to make. My mom looked best in the darted bodice no sleeves v neck (pictured)The princess seams with cap sleeves didn’t work perfectly on me (I’m between sizes in this pattern, and at 5’1 I’m too short to fill in the round neck high back shoulder properly) but the beauty of this pattern is that I have so many options to experiment with to find a great fit, and lots of things to try. The dress is very comfortable too!
Made just the pleated skirt for a wedding. Tried the dress earlier, but it made me look dowdy. Made some changes to the skirt (didn't want a seam down the front middle, so cut one of the front panels in half, and stitched each half to the sides of the other front panel, making 2 front side panels and one front middle panel; made the waistband 3" wide (total of 7" with SA and fold over)). Like the fit and length (added 14" to the length of the tea skirt). From cotton poplin (something easy to wash and care for); could have been from something "fancier", like silk or taffeta.
I knew the moment I held up my first Upton gored maxi skirt - made from an old wool blanket - that this pattern would be a constant companion. I was brand new to sewing and had made exactly two other projects when I decided to make a wool blanket skirt to keep myself from freezing constantly in the winter. The instructions are so well done and thorough (though I laugh at myself now because not a single part of that skirt was pressed or understiched). I made two more. I got compliments on my "vintage" skirts. I made a dress version in bright plaid and got more compliments. I then made a gown for a wedding in wool gabardine and when I modeled it for my husband (wonky invisible zip and all) he said it was the most beautiful dress I owned, far outshining any ready-to-wear clothing in my closet. This pattern made me a better sewist, a more confident sewist and gave me peace in being able to dress my body as it is and not have to make 5-10 different adjustments for my belly and bust. And that was all before I even learned how to do sleeves.
I used to want to buy every single fit and flare dress pattern I saw, now, after a year of experimenting, I will instead admire the inspiring pattern, note the details, and then make a similar dress from the Upton pattern - and it will fit every time.
