Sienna Dress PDF Pattern

I bought this pattern knowing I wanted to do a fairly simple hack of the neckline, and followed the other instructions. I love the way it turned out. The lines and shape of the dress are really beautiful, and I found the pin tucks to be kind of relaxing and meditative to sew.
That being said, I definitely think this is a more challenging sew and would recommend people do at least one toile. I struggled with the pocket instructions and ended up leaving them out of the final dress.

I absolutely love the look of this dress and really enjoyed making it, but I do have a few notes. Let me point out that I am not a pattern designer or anything, but I think I've sewn enough items to spot when there's a weak spot in the instructions or pattern. Also, I used to work on magazines so I'm a pretty good proof reader. There were a few places in the instructions for Sienna were not very clear, most importantly on page 6 where there are instructions for marking and sewing the pleats. I was really stumped about the direction of I make the fold, which notches were meant to line up to which, even though on the next page there are some directions about how each panel should be pleated. This is where some arrows drawn on the instructions and also on the pattern pieces would have been so helpful. I made another pleated garment a month or so ago (the Maker's Atelier Atelier Blouse) and in that case the pleat instructions were super clear. That helped me with this project but it might confuse someone new to pleating. I was also very confused about where I was meant to sew once I'd pressed the pleat itself. It doesn't help that the instructions warn you that if you're 1mm out it will all go wonky! I also ended up getting in a muddle with the facings and the straps at the end which is on me for sure, and made the fatal mistake of using a regular zip instead of an invisible one. But all in all, it turned out beautifully and I made it in a gorgeous emerald green viscose satin. I get tons of compliments on it and I love the drape and shape of the design.

I’d say this was moderately difficult. Even though I checked the facing sizing, I had issues with the fit. It could just be my preferences and my body type. The straight fit under the arms was awkward for me. I didn’t want to too high under the arm, but then the whole thing would be too low. Ultimately I had to curve the armpit to get the front higher and the armpit lower. Also sometimes strap placement is too far apart for m and this was the case for me. Also I found the bust facing to fit awkwardly for me. It kind of flared out over the chest and didn’t lay smoothly under the dress. I suggest checking the fit of the bodice facing carefully. Overall though I kind of enjoyed the process of sewing all the pintucks. Once you got going, it was rather relaxing