Lately, I’ve been obsessed with sewing Russian Sewing Patterns. After my success with these two patterns by Viki Sews, I have been experimenting with more garments from their pattern range.

Their designs are what I love about sewing – the ability to make garments which fit your body and lifestyle. As someone that works an office job, I need a range of clothes which look professional alongside more casual makes. Dipping my toe into Russian sewing patterns has been a fantastic experience. Some of the Russian Pattern companies have very unique designs they feel really different to a lot of other indie patterns.

I’ve been excited to share this dress with you!

I purchased the Viki Sews Ivanna pattern a while ago before our sewing retreat weekend. I was drawn to the pleats, the length of the sleeves and the effortless shape. The pattern combined with the beautiful fabric from Drapers Fabrics has resulted in a dress which I love wearing.

Just like the other Viki Sews patterns you purchase one size. I purchased pattern size 44 with height 162 – 168 cm.  The pattern includes all seam allowances. The one thing to note is that the instructions are in Russian. I haven’t found this challenging as they contain lots of excellent photographs. Here’s a sample of the instructions from the Viki Sews website. Along with the visual instructions, I’ve used Google Translate to figure out the written instructions which are in Russian. There’s more information about this on my earlier blogpost. This pattern was cheap as chips costing $3.60 NZD when it is full price.

You can see in these photos the cool underarm gussets. I haven’t sewn underarm gussets before and they were definitely tricky. I watched a couple of Youtube videos to see different techniques as this step didn’t translate well. Apart from the gussets, the pattern came together easily. I’m planning to make at least one more dress version in a solid fabric which will show off the design lines.

This is one of those garments which looks great in nearly every single photo and makes me feel like a boss lady. When I make this again I will add a couple of inches to the skirt hem. I used bias binding to make the most of the length.

I have since purchased more Viki Sews patterns and have set up a hashtag for English speaking using who sew Russian patterns. It is #russiansewingpatterns.

Work has been very busy lately so I haven’t been blogging or sewing as much as normal.

Looking forward to sharing more with you soon!