I started working on my daughter’s Valentine’s Day dress way back in October of last year. But then I decided that I was going to sew some Christmas presents and I put it off to the side. Well, I finally got back to sewing on her dress in January and was able to finish it with the help of my mom.

To make this dress I used the Simplicity pattern 8103, which is a vintage pattern from the 1950’s. I’ve purchased a couple of the Simplicity’s Vintage patterns since I stated sewing, but this is the first one that I attempted to sew. There were parts of this dress that were really easy and there were also parts that I found to be very difficult. And I also, used some new sewing techniques for the first time.

Let’s start with what I thought was easy about Simplicity 8103. Making the bodice (the top portion of the dress) and attaching it to the skirt was pretty easy. I didn’t have any trouble attaching the lining to the bodice either. So I was very happy about this.

There were a lot of things that I did for the first time while making this dress. First off, it was my first time sewing scalloped edges. The neckline for the dress is scalloped along with the collar and sleeves of the jacket. Making the scallops wasn’t that hard, but it’s definitely something that I will have to practice more to get better at. My scallops were not a well formed as they should have been, but I’m sure I’ll get better at making scallops the more I do them.

It was also the first time that I made buttonholes using my new sewing machine. For Christmas, I got a Brother CS-600oi computerized sewing machine that has a one-step buttonhole making feature that makes adding buttonholes to garments super easy.

There was also quite a bit of hand sewing called for in the directions of this pattern.  I don’t have a lot of experience of sewing by hand, but this pattern definitely helped me to practice this skill.

It was also my first sewing a jacket, which brings me to the most difficult part about making Simplicity 8103. Adding the lining to the jacket was difficult for me. I thought I had did it the right way, but when my mom looked at it she said it was all wrong. I completely misunderstood the directions. But once she showed me how to do it I was able to fix it.

However, adding the collar was impossible for me. I tried it over and over again, but I could not get the collar sewn in the correct way. I finally, had to just give it to my mom and ask her to figure it out for me. Evidentially, the directions for adding the collar is not the way that a collar is sewn to a garment most of the time these days. I guess since Simplicity 8103 is a vintage pattern it explains the difference in the method for attaching a collar. I’m just glad that my mom was able to sew it onto the jacket and that it turned out nice.

Overall, I think this is a good pattern for someone who has intermediate sewing skills. Simply because it is a vintage pattern and the methods are a bit different. But if you are beginner looking to increase your skills or want more of a challenge then this is a great pattern to try. However, if you are a beginner and you don’t have someone to help you out then this pattern may just be frustrating.

Do you have a special Valentine’s Day outfit?