Hello fellow sewers

I was lucky enough to be gifted a Minerva exclusive Poppy dress kit. The kit is released today. Let me tell you about my make and thoughts.

Firstly I will start by saying I absolutely love a kit. I really love receiving everything I need to make a garment. So I can just crack on with it.

The kit comes with:

* Minerva Exclusive Paper Sewing Pattern Poppy Dress

* Minerva Exclusive Positively Poppies Stretch Woven Cotton Poplin POD Fabric - 3.7 metres

* Gutermann Sew All Polyester Sewing Thread x 2 spools

* Hemline Medium Iron On Interfacing White - 1.3 metres

* Hemline Round Shell Buttons Lime Green x 2 packets

* Hemline Sewing Machine Needles - 100/16 size

So the minute I saw the Minerva exclusive Poppy dress on fellow sewers, I loved it. The minute it was released I was hooked. That doesn’t always happen. Sometimes it takes time for me to want to make a pattern.

What I liked about the Poppy dress pattern was the tailored style. With bust darts and darts at the back. To give some shaping. With an A line skirt. Something that really appealed to me was the button up front. As a disabled person with movement restrictions, there are so many patterns I like the look of. I’d find them difficult to get on or off. I don’t want to wear an oversized garment to allow for my restrictions. I am more a slim fitted summer dress kind of girl. So options can be quite limiting.

I chose a Minerva Exclusive POD Fabric. It’s called Positively Poppies. It’s a

Stretch Woven Cotton Poplin fabric. The colour is called Alpine. It appealed to me as it’s lovely and vibrant. With a light yellow background. Layered with yellow, pink, red, maroon and orange leaved poppies. With greens too. A gorgeous design and splash of much needed uplifting colour.

The fabric has 20% width stretch. Which also helps with my comfort levels. It’s a light to medium weight fabric, being 140 gsm’s. And is 97% cotton and 3% elastane. POD means it’s printed for you. Which means there is a bit of a wait. It’s not an off the shelf fabric. The fabric is 140 cm or 55.1” wide. There are seven different colour options available. Which is great.

From the Minerva booklet:

Breezy yet refined, the Poppy dress brings a touch of vintage charm with modern versatility. I think that says it all.

So looking through the Poppy instructions booklet, I first looked at the size guide. Mimerva patterns are very size inclusive. Their patterns come in two size ranges, Misses and Mrs. They also cover different cup sizes. To give an example of this, the Misses size covers sizes A - J. Ladies cup size B . A bust range of 31 1/4” - 42 1/4”. The Mrs size K - J, a cup size of D. A bust range of 41” - 59”. The pattern is drafted for a 5’ 6” model.

Before I started making the kit up, I first read Poppy blog posts from other sewers. To see if there was anything I needed to know. I looked at images to see how the dress fit and looked.

I’ve made a few Minerva patterns now. I am usually a G/H. Looking at my measurements i’m between a G & H bust. An H - I waist and between a G and H hips. Going by the finished measurements I thought the only really important measurement was the bust. I was happy with a G. The waist has a bit of ease and is pulled in by the tie. So I opted to go with a straight G.

I traced the pattern and made a toile. The fabric was synthetic. It was a similar weight and had similar stretch. I picked it up in a charity shop for £1 for about 3 1/2 metres. It was perfect for a toile. And as I knew I would never want to wear it, I just wanted to sew enough of the Poppy dress to test the fit.

So from my toile the only thing I noticed was the bust dart was in the wrong place for me. I’d read a blog post from another sewer saying the same. I’m an A cup. Wearing my toile I marked my bust apex. I then measured how far down I needed to move the dart. For me it was 4 cm’s. I then drew a rectangle around the dart on the pattern. Cut it out and moved the dart down. Adding paper behind to stick the new position in place. Drawing a new side section to join above and below the moved dart section. Jo from Minerva has a great YouTube video on this if you want to have a go. It’s not difficult.

For the toile I sewed everything except the buttonholes. And one flounce. It was a really useful exercise. Especially so I could see where the bust dart position was. It also meant I had sewn a lot of the steps already. So that would mean making my kit dress would be straightforward.

The cotton poplin fabric was a total joy to sew. A marked contrast from the dreadful fabric I used for the toile. It pressed well.

I took my time and pattern matched the pockets. It’s not something you need to do. I just like to do this if I can.

I decided to do french seams for the side seams. As the dress is so neat and tidy inside. I thought it would just add to the look from the inside. I love neat. Hopefully the French seams will make the dress last longer. I would have liked to do this for the flounce. But didn’t. I’m sure you can. I decided to go with an overlocked finish instead.

I’ve never sewn a long button placket before. So that was something new. Having to do 10 buttonholes in the right place and well was a bit of pressure. I really took my time with measuring and marking the positioning. I did several test buttonholes. And am totally thrilled with the result of my buttonholes. They are all great. I’m sure the fabric helped there. Lovely and stable. Doing this has really given me confidence.

I found sewing the Penny dress a very enjoyable sew. I love the neatness of the dress. Both inside and out. I love the fit. It’s a flattering style on me. And I love the fabric. Initially I wasn’t sure about the flounce to be honest. However I do like them. They give a bit of extra detail to the dress. I like that there is a bit of room around the tummy area. So If you are having a bloated day or going out to eat, you can adjust the tie. The dress isn’t tight. It’s just comfortable.

I especially like the belt loops. It took me a bit of time getting the position right. I like that the tie is being kept in place. So it shouldn’t twist at the back. Or drop to the floor.

I’d highly recommend the Poppy dress. It’s a fab pattern. Perfect for summer. Which I’m sure is around the corner. And as I’ve already said, a kit is great. Just add what you need to your order. If you don’t need a particular element, don’t add it. I think that flexibility is excellent.

I will get a lot of wear from this dress. It’s something I would wear out and about in the daytime or for a meal. It’s a great addition to my wardrobe.

I will definitely make another Penny dress. It really is a great pattern. And with support from Minerva’s clear and detailed booklet, a total winner. I believe there is a YouTube sew along video on the Minerva page if you would like to watch it.

if you would like this kit, all you need to do is add the items and quantities I've added below.

Thanks for reading my blog post and happy sewing.

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