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Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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The ESP Dress / Handmade Wardrobe

May 29, 2019 4 Comments

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.
Hi, I have some serious resting face.

In honor of Me Made May soon coming to a close, today we’re going to take a closer look at a Me Made May project from last year, The ESP Dress from Decades of Style. Last year around this time, I really wanted to finally make the time to take my sewing skills from rusty-at-best to ok-I-sort-of-know-how-to-do-this. I wanted to be able to sew a dress start to finish in a weekend and install a zipper so the teeth lined up (more on why that was a goal in a moment). So I dug into my stash and pulled out my copy of the ESP Dress pattern, a pattern I’d used for somewhat-successfully making my Ms. Frizzle cosplay a couple years before.

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

About the first go ’round

Like I said, I’d initially made this dress a few years ago, having not sewn much as an adult, except for a simple t-shirt dress. For my first attempt at the ESP Dress, the skirt was poorly gathered, the zipper wasn’t lined up (it zipped, but the zipper tops were half an inch off), and there were a couple issues with fit. I also modified the original short-sleeve dress pattern to include long sleeves with elastic cuffs to create a makeshift, elongated puffy sleeve. Considering I was largely stabbing in the dark on ESP attempt #1, I’m still excited that it was a functional dress at all.

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

The ESP Dress

Fast forward now to this grey, floral take on the ESP. I wanted specifically to see if I could make a dress in a day, so a pattern I’d worked with before was in order. I’d sewn a couple circle skirts from a self-drafted pattern in the weeks leading up to making this dress, and I was feeling confident. I’d gotten zipper practice doing the skirts, so how hard could a longer zipper be?

Good news! While I went into the project 50% confident/50% apprehensive about my ability to sew a wearable dress in a single day, I emerged victorious. (At 2 a.m., but still!) The visible zipper turned out perfect, my gathers were improved, and I had myself my first-ever, made-in-a-day dress. Combined with pink boots, my grey take on the ESP Dress has become a spring wardrobe staple.

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

Pros & Cons

Pros: The dress is incredibly wearable, with casual short sleeves done raglan-style. (Yes, knitters & crocheters! Raglan like the sweater sleeve!) The raglan sleeve and angular neck assembly mean that most of this dress is sewn in straight lines, which is how it’s so quick to whip up. Curved lines are found at the hems and in the dress’ pockets, and they’re good practice for beginners!

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

Cons: This is largely due to the dress being one of my first self-made items in awhile, but if you’ve got narrow shoulders like me, be aware that the neck opening is fairly wide on the ESP. The whole upper part of the dress nicely reminds me of a 1960s dress silhouette, but it was simply too wide on me out-of-the-box, so to speak. To quickly tweak this dress to avoid constant bra strap peek-a-booing, I added a pleat at the center front of the neckline by hand. It was simple: invisibly mark the center front of the neckline and half an inch on either side of it, then fold the side marks in to meet at the center. After pressing, I hand-basted and sewed the pleats down, and the dress was much more wearable.

If I made this dress again, I’d take the time to attempt grading between sizes to accommodate my unique bust to ribs to shoulders proportions, alleviating the need for the added front pleat. This would also mean the armpits of the dress, which had gotten sort of pulled up in the process of adding that pleat, wouldn’t feel quite as claustrophobic as my grey dress does.

Would I make this dress a third time? Absolutely! Knowing this pattern fairly well at this point, I think it presents a great opportunity to learn even more about fit and my own body. I already know I can make it in a day, don’t I?

Handmade Wardrobe / Learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of sewing the beginner-friendly ESP Dress from Decades of Style.

P.S. The ESP Dress passes the pockets test. ;)

Filed Under: Handmade Wardrobe, Sewing Tagged With: decades of style, esp dress, handmade clothes, handmade wardrobe, me made may, sew, Sewing

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is an artist, author and crafts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame. In addition to running the Hands Occupied Blog and Pattern Shop, you can find her making videos & co-hosting the Very Serious Crafts podcast.

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Comments

  1. Allison

    May 30, 2019 at 3:33 pm

    Pockets forever! Now is not the time for be to become a sewist, but I appreciate that these posts remind us we can dig out rusty skills and polish them off :)

    Reply
    • Heidi

      May 30, 2019 at 4:15 pm

      That’s awesome! -Heidi

      Reply
  2. Christine Seid

    June 1, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    Good for you, Heidi. You look adorable in that dress and, even though you know you might be able to improve the fit, it looks like it fits you perfectly. And I’m also encouraged that we can dust off unused skills and achieve something new again. Great post.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      June 3, 2019 at 7:05 pm

      Thank you, Christine!

      Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

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There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s ab There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s about how I’m going to take the next 2 weeks off to rest & recharge. ☺️🧶 No new content for y’all means I can also take a moment to zoom out & plan what’s next. Link is in bio. 
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A note on Very Serious Crafts: In the post I discuss stepping away from the @seriouscrafts podcast to give myself more time to devote to some minor medical issues. Don’t you worry - my health will be fine, & @molliejohanson @redhandledscissors and I are still pals, and after a short break of their own, the podcast will be back! Just sans moi. 💁🏼‍♀️😆 
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See you in a couple weeks! ✌🏻#handsoccupied #knitdesign #craftdesign #sofadedsweater
Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it shoul Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it should be. ☺️🎄The past few days have been filled with a lot of catching up on festive zoom calls & raising toasts to the camera. 🥂 Connecting with people has been a welcome change of pace! Now I’m feeling ready to meet my inevitable end-of-year deadlines. 😆
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Warmest wishes for the season, my friends! ❤️💛💙
Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker beh Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker behind Hands Occupied! 👋🏻 I’ve been enjoying making Reels a lot lately, but I wanted to bop in to share a regular photo & say hello. 🤓 
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rather than giving you my bio right now, I have a question. I just got this new sweater & I can’t stop imaging how funny it would be to wear this to a knitting class ... is that bad? 🤣🤣🤣
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Pictured: a blond woman with glasses wearing a sweater that reads “all your sweaters are ugly” standing in front of a Christmas tree.
Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is o Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is one of the most common methods for finishing a knitting project and helping ensure its final size and shape. Learn basic blocking for absolute beginners in an easy-to-follow (non-Reel!) video tutorial! Catch the tutorial on YouTube or the Hands Occupied Blog, link is in bio. 🧶 #handsoccupied #stopswatchandblockit #KPAmbassadorsDec20 #sponsored
Had to share this perfect capture of one of my fav Had to share this perfect capture of one of my favorite weird homemade Christmas ornaments: a simple macramé Santa face with beads for the eyes and nose! My Great-Grandma made it too. 🎄
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Might have to try making a quickie Reel tutorial for this guy - I think it’s the perfect project for it, don’t you? 🎅🏼 #handsoccupied #macrame
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