Pattern Review of the Style Arc Belle Woven Dress

Pattern Information

The Style Arc Belle Woven Dress is designed for intermediate sewists and comes in sizes 4-30. It is a midi-length, button-through dress with puffy sleeves. It is shirred through the back for ultimate comfort and has an optional shirred sleeve for that touch of difference.

What Size Did I Make?

I made a straight size 12. My measurements are Bust 98cm (38.5”), Waist 85cm (33”), and Hip 113cm (44.5”). I chose this size based on the finished measurements listed for my waist and shoulder breadth. The only adjustment I made was to shorten the skirt by 5cm (2”) because the pattern was drafted for a 5,6” person, and I am 5,4” (164cm).

What Fabric Did I Use?

The fabric I used to make my version of the Belle woven dress was an absolute bargain! Who doesn’t love a fabric bargain, right?

I had an accounting awards function that I was going to at the end of June (not as dull as it sounds I promise) and I knew I wanted to make a new dress.

Sheryle and I had planned a fabric shopping trip in Melbourne in early June so it was perfect timing. I wasn’t sure what dress I wanted to make but I knew I wanted something floaty and elegant, maybe even sheer.

I stumbled across the perfect fabric in Darn Cheap Fabrics, Fitzroy and it was on their discount table for $2.95 per metre (thank you, fabric gods!)

The Belle woven dress is designed for a drapey fabric like rayon, silk, or crepe and this fabric was spot on. It is polyester, not a favourite of mine, but it was golden and dramatic and I knew it would make a perfect occasion dress.

I purchased 4 metres, the pattern recommends 3.3 metres (148cm wide). I have about a metre left over, so I could safely make this again with only 3 metres (148cm).

Sizing Doubts

When I started making this dress I was really unsure about the size. It is unusual for me to be able to make a dress without any alterations. However, because the pattern has so many gathers I couldn’t do my usual and measure the bodice pattern pieces to figure out the width. A more advanced sewist might know how to measure the pattern pieces whilst ignoring the gathers, but I couldn’t figure it out.

Plus it struck me as strange that there was no length or shorten lines on the bodice section. I knew the pattern was drafted for a 5,6” person and I am slightly short-waisted so I was worried the positioning of the waist yoke would be off if I didn’t shorten it.

Instead, I had to trust the finished pattern measurements and make the dress based on the shoulder breadth (39.2cm) and waist measurements (85cm) for a size 12. Both of which were spot on for me.

This was quite a leap of faith for me, particularly as I only had 3 weeks to make the dress and no backup fabric option.

Construction Method and Instructions

First I want to start by saying that Style Arc pattern instructions are not the most detailed. There is a lot of assumed knowledge and I found the bodice instructions difficult to interpret. That doesn’t mean that they are not well written, but they are more dot-point directions than detailed instructions.

As I knew the instructions would be limited I googled (as I always do) to see if anyone else had made this dress and could elaborate on the construction process. I found this amazing video on YouTube by Sew Happy that walks you through the whole dress-making process.

When I made the dress I don’t remember it being listed on the Style Arc website, but now it is. So you can either go directly to Sew Happy’s YouTube page or via the sewing tutorials sections on the Style Arc website.

Either way with this video the sewing pattern came together like a dream.

Mistakes

When I started making this dress I wanted the inside of the dress to be as pretty as the outside, so I thought I would add an extra step and complete French Seams.

However, I got a bit carried away and made a mistake whilst sewing the shoulder to the front bodice and sewed French seams instead of following the video and enclosing the seams in the back yoke. This means that my seams are a little bulky in this area and I had to hand stitch the French seams down so they don’t move.

Challenges

There were quite a few techniques in here that I had never done before. Shirring, waist yokes and this much gathering on a bodice.

The shirring side of things was actually quite straightforward and strangely therapeutic, but I did struggle to get the back shirring panel to fit when attaching it to the back bodice. It did fit in the end, but I had to pin it quite a few times before I could get it to work. So if this happens to you just keep pinning and unpinning until it fits, as I am sure it will.

Changes

Once the dress was almost finished I pinned the button placket closed and tried the dress on to see if I could get it over my head without having to add real button holes. To my joy I could, so I sewed the button placket closed and sewed the buttons on top so my button placket looks real, but it isn’t.

I actually think that because the dress fits me so well the button placket would have gapped on the waist yoke if I had tried to sew real buttonholes. So I would probably do this every time.

Would I Recommend this Pattern?

Yes! I would 100% recommend this pattern. For me, this dress is likely to become one of my staples and because it fits me so well straight out of the packet I am now looking at all of the other Style Arc patterns to see what I should try next.

Final Thoughts

I am absolutely amazed at how well this dress fits me. Especially as I didn’t have to make any adjustments to the bodice. The finished measurements for a size 12 are exactly the same as my measurements so I don’t know why I am surprised it fits so well, but this honestly doesn’t happen very often.

I loved wearing this dress and all of the little details really make it a beautiful dress for an event.

In fact, I love this dress so much that I have just cut out another one in a flowery rayon print fabric ready to sew for summer BBQs when the weather warms up.

More photos and a reel of me wearing this dress can be found at @sewcial_sewing and on Facebook.

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, I purchased the pattern and fabric myself. All statements made in this review are my honest opinions.