This is my third go at New Look 6071 – which is still well behind Andrea’s tally of five!  There is a lot to like about this pattern.

Like the previous two versions, I cut this out at size 12, but did remember to make the side seams just 1/4 inch – and actually cut it out a little larger than the pattern through the waist. Cutting out took a while because I needed to make sure that the stripes would line up properly when I started to sew, and I did lots of basting of the centre back and side seams to ensure that the stripes all matched up fairly well (albeit not perfectly). But check out the armhole seams – there is a definite “design feature” happening there.

Yes, those stripes do line up beautifully, don’t they! It’s just a pity that the navy stripes on the sleeve line up with the cream stripes on the body and the cream stripes on the sleeve match up with the navy stripes on the body. Hmm, got that one entirely wrong…

The v-neckline and centre front twist is my favourite thing about this dress – although I do like the overall shape as well. It’s quite easy to do, especially in this beautiful quality cotton/spandex knit (thanks again for that Karen)! I used a strip of binding to finish the neckline, rather than just turning it under. I did take the dress in a little at the centre back neckline too, making the seam about another 5/8″ larger to take my rounded upper back (also known as a “dowager’s hump”) into account.

Most of the construction was done on the overlocker, with the machine just used for basting in some spots and for top-stiching the hems down after stabilising them with vliesofix. Another recommended pattern!