Silk wrap dress

Pattern: Buttericks 5898, size 12. View B with sleeves from view A. 
Fabric: silk crepe (?), received as a destash gift

 This was made last spring, when all I could think about was make. all. the. dresses. Now my sewing mojo has left me for a long vacation in Timbuktu, but at least I have pictures to share, and a pretty dress to cheer me up. This is a dress I love despite it's small flaws. I feel elegant and beautiful when i wear it, and that counts for much more than everything else I have to say about this make. Note to self: silk is amazing, wrap dresses are even better.

I fell for the classic cut of this pattern, and the very feminine cascading wrap of the skirt. The construction features two cut-out darts pointing outwards (meaning that they start at the edge of the wrap and points towards the sides of my body), and lots of easestitching to fit the fronts into the facings. I was quite concerned while making it that it would en up beeing gathered, but it actually very effectively creates nice blousing while remaining securely in place, close to my body. I whish I could have gone the french seaming way to really treat this silk with the care it deserves, but the ties needs to pass into an opening that is placed in a side seam, and I could not figure out how to combine french seams with this opening. Also, I am not a big fan of facings in general, and here, well, I'm on the fence. They are a bit floppy despite that i invisibly catch-stitched them in place, but it is also the only finish i can think of that affords the clever easistitching action. And finally, I am not the one to make muslins of a loose-fitting dress, but I should have made an exception this time, because it turned out a little big. Now, it's a wrap dress, so it's not too noticeable as I can just pull the waist ties a bit tighter, but the shoulders are a cm or two too wide.

But I will definetely revisit this pattern. I have a lenght of 4ply silk I bought at Moods last year, sitting in my stash waiting for the perfct project. That might just be it, because this dress made me realise that I do not need a fitted bodice and a full skirt to feel feminine and amazing.

A dress with a taste of retro

Pattern: Buttericks 5748, size 12 with lots of modifications for fit
Fabric: cotton sateen, from Moods


I sew much faster than I manage to blog. And I will rather spend my spare time behind my sewing machine than behind my computer screen, editing photos and typing blog posts. But I do want to share and show you guys my new twirly dresses. If anyone has a solution to this dillema, please share. In the meantime, my list of finished projects to blog is almost longer than my sewing queue. Oh my.

So this dress has been finished for quite a while, and I even wore it a few times. I was one of these projects where I had the perfect fabric for a pretty pattern. I thought, 5 pattern pieces, a circle skirt, a simple bodice with fun notch details, this is going to be a fun project! Well. I had to fight so much with it to get it to simply fit. I am still not happy, but it is wearable. After wearing it a few times, I think I`ll go back and take another wedge in the center back. In hindsight, I should have started with a least two sizes down... It is a real pity, because apart for the fit (I still hope to be able to save it!) I love everything about this dress. The summery fabric, the low back, and mostly, the circle skirt. Oh, the circle skirt. Can you believe this is the first circle skirt I ever wore? I had so much fun all day wearing it! I need more circle skirts in my life.

Construction-wise, it is pretty simple. I put in a side lapped zipper, as per the insructions, and did quite a decent job at it, despite the fabric wanting to stretch very badly. The skirt is hemmed with a bright red bias tape (my favorite way to hem rounded skirts), for a pop of colour on the inside too.

And look, I can twirl!!

I styled it with my red Miette, which is the second sweater I ever knitted. I still love it so.