I’m joining Toni’s Make It Perfect Pattern Parade today and I’m excited! I love Toni’s sewing patterns so I was thrilled when invited me to take part and told me I could choose any pattern to sew for the parade. A thrill that led to days of indecision until I finally chose the wonderful Zip It dress.

Zip It is a lovely little dress featuring a front zipper, pockets, and options to use contrast fabric for the yoke and bias binding.

After the typical amount of hand wringing over which fabric to use, I made the dress in some corduroy from my store. How great is this print? It’s reversible and has stripes on the back which are hiding on the inside of this dress. You can see this and the other reversible corduroy I have in the store here.

I wanted a minimal look for this version of the dress so I omitted the pockets and did not use a contrast bias binding. I sewed the side seams with French seams and turned the armhole bias binding to the inside of the garment instead of having it show on the outside, so my construction steps were a little different than the pattern called for. Zip It is a really straightforward, quick sew though and if you’ve ever been afraid of sewing a zipper into a garment then worry no more. Toni walks you through an incredibly easy method of inserting the zipper that is stress-free and fun.

I made a size 4 for my daughter but I should have gone a size up as it fits her perfectly right now and I was hoping it would fit in winter too. No worries though, I can make another! I think Zip It is a great summer dress but would also look lovely layered in the cooler months with boots and a cardigan.

I had a lot of fun making this dress and my daughter loves it too! Have you seen the other Make It Perfect patterns in action? There’s a great line-up of sewers making some gorgeous things. Thank you so much for inviting me on the Pattern Parade, Toni!

*I received the Zip It dress pattern from Toni but all opinions, as always, are my own.