Easy dresses Patrones 374 #7

I was in a search for an easy dress pattern to wear in my soon to come holiday. Something wide, not too long, and also to look a bit put together. First I tried a muslin for the Kobe dress from Papercut Patterns. I really liked that back detail. Well, the muslin was terrible on me, armholes too low, sleeves too wide, shoulder seams too wide, I usually adjust these things on the patterns I sew but the  back is pulling the front to the back and after wearing the muslin around the house that bothered me a lot. I tried to move the shoulder seam a bit to the front but I am still not happy. 

Anyway, I put the Kobe on hold and then I saw this pattern in the Patrones 374. It is sleeveless, so perfect for warm days, it is wide, easy breezy ; but  I hated that armhole dart. I made a muslin in size 38 for the shoulders and armholes and 40 for the rest. 

The dart was really bothering me, looking more like a last time fix on my armhole so that had to go . Also, the armhole is really low in the original pattern.  So, I moved the dart on the bust, I raised the armhole  2.5cm and the neck is 0.5cm lowered.

The pattern is finished with facings, but I finished my neck line and armholes with bias strips. Also, I skipped the zipper, which is totally decorative ( as decorative as an invisible zipper can be ) unless you have a really big head :) . 

 The dress is really easy to make , I love the pleat in the back .These 2 dresses and the top are going with me fo sure. Love both looks with or without belt . The fabrics are viscose and perfect for this pattern, the pleat need a drapey fabric to fall nice. 

The fabrics for the dresses are from  Driessen  and the top is a left over piece from my Maxy Kiera skirt 

Very happy with this items, next I am starting on a muslin on the last Colette pattern, the Penny dress, and I am still looking for a pattern to make this dress, I have the original fabric, scuba with an amazing print.

picture : Navabi

Dress Knipmode June 2017

Finally, a non-tester garment :).

 This is a lovely pattern. It is a pattern from KnipMode 6/2017. As usual, my biggest problem is to choose the right size. The pattern is in sizes 34-54. In their size chart, I am a 38 for the bust and waist and 34 for the hips ( b92  w71 h92). So I made the muslin accordingly but it was way too big. I decided that size 34 will be perfect. The pattern has a drop shoulder but the way it was fitting it was restricting my arms, to fix that I took 2 cm off from the shoulder seam length.

Size 34 fits me perfect ( in this pattern), in the back bodice are 2 darts, the front has also 2 pleats and it gets closed with a side zipper. I read in the magazine that you could make this in a jersey fabric, I guess in that case you could skip the zipper. The fabric is a woven poly crepe, medium weight with a bit of stretch and I think is perfect for this pattern, almost perfect, because of the print there are some details lost.

Usually I don`t read instructions but in this case, you have those ties to construct. The one on the right side is just a piece of fabric, doubled and sewn at the side but the second one is a bit more complicated, one piece is part of the bodice and to that, you need to attach another piece. Well, I know Kinpmode instructions are a bit Burda style but in this case, the instructions are great, everything gets perfect together. 

I have a second version of this almost ready, needs a hem still. I like it a lot. Very flattering, not too much fabric in the skirt. Nice fitted bodice at the back and comfy in the front. These versions are both unlined but I am planning to make one more in a thinner cotton so I was wondering how to line the bodice, because of the ties part. I wrote an email to Knipmode and I got the next day answer to my question. If you use only the right side of the bodice cut on the fold you can make that as a lining and the skirt with the pleats closed. Nice that they are so helpful.

Oceanside Dress-Itch to Stitch pattern

I am very bad at combining fabrics prints and colors. Usually, I agonize about choosing the perfect fabric for my projects but when I need also to match fabrics /colors/prints then I go really crazy about it.

This is the latest pattern from Itch to Stich Patterns, the Ocean Side Dress. 

Made for knit fabrics, loose fitting bodice, fitted waist band, and a half circle skirt.

I made size 6 for the bodice and 4 for the waist and skirt. I added 2 cm at the hem of the skirt but I am a bit undecided about the length I like in this dress.

The solid version of my Oceanside dress is a knit with more than 50 %stretch horizontal and vertical, the contrasting gray has almost no stretch. 

The printed version is made in a very light ponti with no vertical stretch and the contrast in a light jersey. To avoid bulk at the waist I used the same thin jersey for the second layer of the waist. Also the cuff facings are made in the thin jersey. 

This dress is so comfortabel, really, like I want to keep it all day on.

Also it is very easy and fast to make. I made mine almost entirely on the serger. The hem is sewn with the cover. Oh boy, I love it when it works and hate it when is acting out , I have an Janome CPX  With this kind of stable knits is almost allways a succes. With thinner jerseys it is a strugle, most of the time after making a bunch of samples ( and feeling stupid that I can't get it good)  I am giving up and ending up with the trusty double needle hem.

Back to the dress, as I said it is very easy to make, the pattern instructions are great, as for all ITS patterns.

You could easily make a top with a peplum insteed of the whole skirt or a circle skirt with the fitted waist band. The stretch of the fabric is really important to consider when you chose the size to make, the waist needs to stretch when you put the dress on / off .

At the waist band / skirt seam you are instructed to add also clear elastic. I found this step really important as the skirt can get a bit heavy. I sewn the waistband , skirt and elastic in one step , with my serger. The regular foot on my serger has a hole where I can thread the 6 mm elastic thru. I marked all the notches also on my elastic and I stretch that to meet the notches on my skirt seam . It worked perfect!

Well needless to say I love both versions of my Oceanside dress , perfect for the summer !

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