Pattern Review:Simplicity 2373

Pattern Description:
Misses' pants, dress or top and jacket. Easy Chic pattern.

Pattern Sizing:
Multisized: H5: 6-8-10-12-14. I made the 14, which was way too big. My measurements match the theoretical "correct" measurements for a 14 pretty much exactly, but it fit like a tent.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Pretty much, except for the changes I made to the gathers.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yup.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Likes: The ribbon topstitched onto the seams, and the shape of the bodice.
Dislikes: The skirt, in particular the gathering. It was largely the fabric I used (a quilting cotton), but I struggled to make it not look like a maternity dress. Also, the seam allowances (or cutting edges of the pattern) at the bodice edges were angled at the top and/or bottom edges, and it was hard to figure out where exactly to line up the edges of the fabric.

Fabric Used:
A quilting cotton from Joann. Oops.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
The straightforward changes were:
- adding a ribbon to the waist
- hand-picking the zipper
- adding a lining instead of using facings
- cutting the strap in half so the pattern would be right-side up in front and back

The more complicated ones:
- Changing the gathers to darts. My fabric was a quilting cotton which would not hang nicely. I tried the gathers from the pattern, but they looked awful. So I tried changing them to pleats, which looked better. Still, the dress poofed unattractively over the stomach and in the back. Finally, I changed the pleats to darts that extend all the way to the hem, which worked out pretty well.
- Taking in the sides for fitting. I didn't do my fitting before I constructed the entire bodice (bad sewer!), so when I finally tried it on, I had to hack the fit. I took it the side seams at the top by a total of two inches, and tapered it to a little past the next seam on down. It's a little lumpy because I didn't do it earlier on when I had more leverage, but it did address the fit issues pretty well.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Probably not. I generally have issues with empire waistlines, and this was no exception. I might use the ribbon top-stitching idea on another dress. The bodice for this dress was ok but not great, it might work with another skirt but I just don't think I'd take to effort to try.

Conclusion:
The dress came out fine in the end, and the problems I had are probably more due to my poor fabric choice than the pattern. It's a cute idea to edge the seams in ribbon, but I'd probably recommend just topstitching ribbon on top of seams of another pattern.