So I've had this pattern for a while. In fact, I actually tested it last summer, but I never did blog about it. And, it's absolutely a favorite of mine, so I really HAD to share it with you guys! This is the V-ery Sparkly V-Neck Dress by A Sparkly Baby! I really love A Sparkly Baby Patterns. They'll always hold a special place in my heart, because this is the first company that I ever pattern tested for a few years ago, and I REALLY enjoyed it. I always have a good experience when I test for Taryn, and it's always fun. She's easy going, and always welcomes feedback. She will make necessary changes and continue working on a pattern for as long as it takes. She really gives her all and her best every time. I've seen how much love and hard work she puts into what she makes, and I love that about her!
Let me tell you about this pattern in particular though. The pattern has A LOT of options. You'll see them in the graphic I borrowed from her listing below. You can make the dress sleeveless, with short sleeves, with cap sleeves, with banded sleeves, there are pocket options, different skirt length options, a regular A-line skirt option or a half circle skirt. See... tons of options - WHOA!
This is an ideal dress for the summer months since options for sleeveless and short sleeves are included in this pattern. It is a pretty easy sew, and includes good photo instructions to help you along the way. The V-Neck included in this pattern is different from every other v-neck pattern that I've made... the way Taryn does the seam allowance on the neckband makes it much easier. I LOVE that about this pattern.
I've made this pattern a few times. I think I made thee during testing, one after testing was complete, and four more modified! I really LOVE it!
My dresses have all been modified for nursing. If you're not in the A Sparkly Baby Facebook Group, you should be! There is an excellent tutorial in the files of that group to tell you exactly how to make the dress nursing friendly! Actually, this tutorial was intended to be used with the Ladies Ultimate Tee, but it works with this dress too (and probably some other stuff you'd like to modify). 😉 It's a great tutorial, and good to know about!
Fabric I Have Used:
I have made this dress in quite a few different fabrics. During testing, I made one with a cotton spandex bodice and a skirt made from a jersey maxi dress that I upcycled. I made one with a rayon spandex bodice with a jersey half circle skirt, and one that was some mystery content fabric I bought from Wal-Mart (this was super stretchy and slinky, but a pretty color and CHEAP).
After testing was over, I made my absolute FAVORITE dress - It was made from Liverpool Fabric. Liverpool fabric is actually my favorite fabric to work with. I also love wearing it. And, by the way, if you travel, it packs well in a suitcase and doesn't wrinkle at all. I have many, many reasons for loving liverpool. HA!
Then I made a modified version of this pattern 4 times. I'll tell you about them below. Two were made from a 100% polyester knit I bought at Wal-Mart, and two were made using a rayon spandex for the bodice and a brushed poly for the skirt.
As I mentioned, the liverpool dress turned out to be my favorite. I also really liked the fit of the dress made from the polyester knit (it was more stable and fit well). Cotton Spandex has great recovery, so that dress also fit well. My other dresses made using the rayon spandex just didn't fit as well. They stretched out SO much. I honestly don't love sewing or wearing rayon spandex. It's so soft and breathable, so I wish I loved it more, but it stretches so much with less recovery, so I just don't find that the things I make with it fit as well. Maybe I should have sized down.
Modifications:
As I mentioned, all of my V-Ery Sparkly V-Neck dresses were made with nursing mods. I tried using the nursing mod included in the A Sparkly Baby Renni Dress, but it didn't work well for this particular pattern. I found the mod created for the Ultimate Tee to work much better for me!
So on to my other pattern modifications... You'll notice that some of my dresses do not have a v-neck. That's one of my pattern mods. It's so easy to do this too!! I love scoop necks, and really prefer wearing them. So I took my pattern piece, and instead of cutting it along the "v", I scooped it out to how I wanted it to be shaped. Then once I put my front bodice piece and back bodice piece together, I determined the length I needed to make the neckband by measuring my neck opening and multiplying that by 0.80. Easy peasy.
The other mod I made was to the fall floral dress -- the ones with sleeves. As you know, this pattern is intended to be a spring/ summer pattern, and does not include sleeves. But we were making these for my sister's baby shower, and wanted to have dresses that we could wear through the fall and winter with sleeves. Did you know that you can mix and match any A Sparkly Baby Patterns to get exactly what you want? Yep, that is what I did here. I took the sleeves from the Ultimate Tee, cut them at 3/4 length, and added elastic at the hem to draw it in a little. We LOVED how these turned out.
Maternity Wear:
So obviously my sister was pregnant in some of these photos. We used this dress with no modifications for maternity. Yes, it works, but yes, it also fits a tad better not pregnant. She looked beautiful though! And we had such a good time matching at her baby shower! And, I consider it a WIN when you can get use out of something for maternity and nursing!
A Recap of This Pattern
So run, grab this pattern here and make yourself something beautiful!!
Thank you so much for reading this post! If you don't already, come follow me on Instagram! I'd LOVE to see what YOU make!!
Let me tell you about this pattern in particular though. The pattern has A LOT of options. You'll see them in the graphic I borrowed from her listing below. You can make the dress sleeveless, with short sleeves, with cap sleeves, with banded sleeves, there are pocket options, different skirt length options, a regular A-line skirt option or a half circle skirt. See... tons of options - WHOA!
 |
| Image borrowed from the V-ery Sparkly V-Neck Dress Listing on the A Sparkly Baby Etsy Shop |
I've made this pattern a few times. I think I made thee during testing, one after testing was complete, and four more modified! I really LOVE it!
My dresses have all been modified for nursing. If you're not in the A Sparkly Baby Facebook Group, you should be! There is an excellent tutorial in the files of that group to tell you exactly how to make the dress nursing friendly! Actually, this tutorial was intended to be used with the Ladies Ultimate Tee, but it works with this dress too (and probably some other stuff you'd like to modify). 😉 It's a great tutorial, and good to know about!
 |
| The top panel lifts up for nursing access. |
Fabric I Have Used:
I have made this dress in quite a few different fabrics. During testing, I made one with a cotton spandex bodice and a skirt made from a jersey maxi dress that I upcycled. I made one with a rayon spandex bodice with a jersey half circle skirt, and one that was some mystery content fabric I bought from Wal-Mart (this was super stretchy and slinky, but a pretty color and CHEAP).
After testing was over, I made my absolute FAVORITE dress - It was made from Liverpool Fabric. Liverpool fabric is actually my favorite fabric to work with. I also love wearing it. And, by the way, if you travel, it packs well in a suitcase and doesn't wrinkle at all. I have many, many reasons for loving liverpool. HA!
Then I made a modified version of this pattern 4 times. I'll tell you about them below. Two were made from a 100% polyester knit I bought at Wal-Mart, and two were made using a rayon spandex for the bodice and a brushed poly for the skirt.
As I mentioned, the liverpool dress turned out to be my favorite. I also really liked the fit of the dress made from the polyester knit (it was more stable and fit well). Cotton Spandex has great recovery, so that dress also fit well. My other dresses made using the rayon spandex just didn't fit as well. They stretched out SO much. I honestly don't love sewing or wearing rayon spandex. It's so soft and breathable, so I wish I loved it more, but it stretches so much with less recovery, so I just don't find that the things I make with it fit as well. Maybe I should have sized down.
Modifications:
As I mentioned, all of my V-Ery Sparkly V-Neck dresses were made with nursing mods. I tried using the nursing mod included in the A Sparkly Baby Renni Dress, but it didn't work well for this particular pattern. I found the mod created for the Ultimate Tee to work much better for me!
So on to my other pattern modifications... You'll notice that some of my dresses do not have a v-neck. That's one of my pattern mods. It's so easy to do this too!! I love scoop necks, and really prefer wearing them. So I took my pattern piece, and instead of cutting it along the "v", I scooped it out to how I wanted it to be shaped. Then once I put my front bodice piece and back bodice piece together, I determined the length I needed to make the neckband by measuring my neck opening and multiplying that by 0.80. Easy peasy.
The other mod I made was to the fall floral dress -- the ones with sleeves. As you know, this pattern is intended to be a spring/ summer pattern, and does not include sleeves. But we were making these for my sister's baby shower, and wanted to have dresses that we could wear through the fall and winter with sleeves. Did you know that you can mix and match any A Sparkly Baby Patterns to get exactly what you want? Yep, that is what I did here. I took the sleeves from the Ultimate Tee, cut them at 3/4 length, and added elastic at the hem to draw it in a little. We LOVED how these turned out.
Maternity Wear:
So obviously my sister was pregnant in some of these photos. We used this dress with no modifications for maternity. Yes, it works, but yes, it also fits a tad better not pregnant. She looked beautiful though! And we had such a good time matching at her baby shower! And, I consider it a WIN when you can get use out of something for maternity and nursing!
A Recap of This Pattern
- v-neck dress pattern
- a-line skirt and half circle skirt included
- multiple length options included
- sleeveless, short sleeve (hemmed) and banded short sleeve included
- same armscye as other A Sparkly Baby Patterns if you want to add sleeves from a different pattern
- illustrated or photo instructions
- layers
- easy sew with great support from the Facebook Group
- instructions in the Facebook Group to make this dress nursing friendly
So run, grab this pattern here and make yourself something beautiful!!
Thank you so much for reading this post! If you don't already, come follow me on Instagram! I'd LOVE to see what YOU make!!
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