Pink Pocket Dress - Simplicity 8258

One word friends...pockets!  What's better than a dress with pockets?  And a pink dress just in time for Valentine's Day with pockets that can hold Reese's peanut butter hearts (in case you want to buy me some uh-hem!)  This is Simplicity 8258 and I picked this pattern up the minute it came out.  I've been looking for a good basic dress pattern and here it is with pockets as a bonus.  I sewed it up in a pretty pink and white 100% cotton suiting that was easy to sew.  Now I have simple, classic and comfortable dress to add to my wardrobe that lends itself to some great accessories or a cute jacket.

I've made quite a few of these Amazing Fit patterns and find they're easy to work with and since they come with cup size options and offer slim, average and curvy fit it's easier to get a good fit right out of the envelope.  That said, here are the small changes I did make:

• Removed the center front seam  (it's a straight seam so it didn't change the shape at all).
• Made the front 1" narrower from apex to apex (this is something I always do and it's particularly important on a princess seam dress.  Simplicity drafts an 8" apex to apex and I'm 7".  This is an adjustment that's often overlooked but really simple to change).

• Lowered the bust dart 1".  The placement of the bust dart in the drawing made me a little nervous because there's nothing more unflattering than a dart that lands too close to the apex unless of course you're channeling Madonna in "Truth or Dare".  I'm staying out of that movie so you can see in the photo I added a new dart point 1" below the original and redrew the dart legs.  Easy and I'm so glad I did it.  
• I made the pockets deeper so my phone would fit. 

I will definitely be using this pattern again.  It'd be cute in a cotton print or even a lightweight denim.  So many possibilities...never enough time.

I must have pink on the brain because I just finished this denim bag with pink stitching.  A happy accident!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Diane