bwof 4-09-136

See, I told ya I liked this issue! I really LOVE this dress. It was quick, easy, and I can see it easily being dressed up or down. For cold weather, I can wear it with tights & boots, and a turtleneck. For warmer weather, flats, sandals, bare legs.


I used a poly knit purchased at Hancock's last summer. The pattern calls for 5+ yards...yikes. I never stash more than 3 yards, and I had 2 of this knit. I squeezed out enough to do the dress by adding a center back seam, but had to forego the lining.

This dress is supposed to have a self-fabric lining, and since I didn't have enough, first I tried to line it with a white mesh knit I have (specifically stashed to line knits with). Unfortunately, even though the two fabrics had close to the same stretch...they were different weights.

The poly knit was heavier and pulled the CF and CB to the outside, even after understitching. This caused the lining to peek out at the CF (and CB) about 1/2", instead of the smooth gathered appearance in the magazine & line drawing. Here's what its supposed to look like:

Next, I tried topstitching...nope. Still pulled the CF down the same amount, showing the lining.

Eventually I just cut away the lining entirely and did a binding around the neckline. I'll try the lined version again at some point, when I can use self fabric. I think the exact same fabric for lining is really key for this one to work. Here's a close up of the neckline, stitched in the ditch. It's not as noticeable as in this picture!


The sleeves are gathered & have a self fabric binding too. This poly knit was pretty squirrely, and my topstitching was crap! Luckily when wearing this dress, the binding actually turns under...you can't even see it!! (The trouble topstitching the sleeves was one reason I chose to stitch in the ditch on the neckline).


A couple of notes about this one...I cut a 48, but should have cut 46, possibly a 44. It's pretty roomy. In a beefier knit I would be very unhappy with it because it would be very unflattering. The neckline appears really low when you're making it, but somehow it turns out just fine. Like Magic! :D

Also, I subtracted about 5 or 6 inches from the length. I'm 5'5" and this is supposed to be "mid calf". It was at least that if not longer on me. That's a dowdy length for me! I used stitch witchery on the hem, since I was having trouble getting my stitches to look nice. I'll probably go back and twin needle it at some point, but I'm in no hurry!

I'll be making this one again! I have a brown jersey prewashed and ready to cut out, but again, not enough for lining. Instead, I'm thinking of lining the bodice but adding a shelf bra with elastic.

Meanwhile, I'm going to move on to another project...maybe another from April BWOF!