Dopamine Dressmaking

 

Dopamine Dressmaking / Brogan Allard
London: Quadrille, c2024.
191 p.

This is another book written by a former contestant on the Great British Sewing Bee. It highlights the style she showed in her appearance on the show - lots of frill and print. Very suitable to the younger sewist who loves this vibe! 

I love dresses so really wanted to check out this book. And while the styles aren't necessarily things I would make for myself, I found this to be quite a good book. It's well structured -- with 15 projects: there are 8 dresses, with a variation for 7 of them. The size range runs 6 - 22, or B/W/H of 21/23.5/33.75 to 46.5/39/49.25. 

The book starts out with an introduction to Brogan, some basic sewing info on sewing kit, fabrics and how to use the patterns in the book (all downloadable pdfs from the link in the book). Then it moves on to the projects. Each one has the initial pattern instructions, then a variation, then a technique tutorial on something that was involved in that project. Lots of learning opportunities here. The projects are all dresses: 

• T-shirt Dress
• Sun Dress
• Tea Dress 
• Buffet Dress
• Everyday Dress 
• Bib Dress 
• Shirt Dress 
• Party Dress

The Party Dress, as the most elaborate, is the only one without a variation included. The others have a second view that is different enough to feel like a new dress idea. The instructions are pretty good, and there are tons of bright and colourful photos included in the book too. This would be a great project book for someone still fairly new to sewing, to help them stretch their skills and learn new techniques. I always enjoy seeing the Sewing Bee contestants again after their season, and I thought this book was a well thought out collection, even if aimed at quite a specific audience. Lots of colour, print, and pretty dresses - definitely a great dopamine hit just to look through it!