You may remember that I bought
drape drape 2 the other day and was pretty keen to make the stripey mini drape dress from the book using fabric my sister had given me back in September to round off the 'It's all about me November sewing'. After all tomorrow is December and it will be all about presents and parties and a whole log of rushing around without much time for selfish sewing. Well I made the dress and yes, it has fantastic potential as a pattern, but unfortunately the dress I made just is not right.
The fit is o - k- but because the material wasn't wide enough to fit the full pattern, I just left a whole middle panel of the pattern out. Yep, just like that. I didn't bother with the middle section when I posted the pattern pieces together. So, yes it fits, but it is a bit hard to sit down.
The real probem is not the fit, but the way I've sewn it. The pattern calls for binding around the neck and armholes but I freaked out not knowing what to do given the material I was sewing. I probably should have just bought a plain jersey, but instead panicked about the texture in the material and decided I was just going to overlock and turn and hem. Well the result isn't pretty. I wonder whether I should have just rolled hem the whole thing. ??! Stretchy material really does baffle me.
So, here is a photo of me wearing it. You can see the neck isn't right. Oh well. Might try with other material.
With jersey/ stretch knits I leave a 1.5 cm neck and armhole allowance and turn it in. Then I stretch-stitch it (sewing machine stretch stitch-the L-shaped one)...
ReplyDeleteI agree, finishing stretch knits can be tricky. I usually work on a scrap, trialling a few different methods to see what suits the fabric the best. But I think your dress looks pretty cool, and well worth wearing over the summer :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carolyn! Your dress still looks pretty cool. I'll bet you could refashion it a bit if you still aren't convinced! Since you don't like the neckline, could you trim it off as well as the side-seam and add back the middle panel in a contrasting color? Maybe a neck-binding of the same contrast? Or maybe just hide it away from yourself for awhile and revisit it later :)
ReplyDeleteThanks. I didn't leave enough of a seam allowance and so the material kept getting caught in the foot. I'll remember a greater seam allowance next time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips Carolyn. It is a really fun and easy pattern to make (disasters aside!) so I'll definitely make up another dress with this pattern as I think it is really great for summer, but probably now in fabric that is a bit more me, more summery and an easier stretch to sew - without the frills which were freaking me out!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mogan. I think the dress will sit in the stash cupboard until I can locate some of your grit and the desire to finish it. Making friends with all the other unfinished things. Given the colours in the fabric this could be closer to winter! Next time I'll definitely put the panel in the dress pattern and it might be fun to try your idea of the contrasting panel. If placed where the pattern calls for it, it will make the drape at the side more full with a shot of different colour/fabric so that could be cool. The pattern is so easy (user error aside) so I can see quite a few of these being made up.
ReplyDeleteFold over elastic works really well on neck and armhole edges - it draws the knit in and binds at the same time.
ReplyDeleteIs it really too late to add an extra strip of fabric to make it bigger? It looks so cool it would be fab if you were comfortable too!
Thanks for the suggestion! What a great idea re the fold over elastic. I have never thought of that but I can see how it would work really well. I do think I will adjust it at another time but probably after Christmas now! I'm sure it will ride again :)
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