(Disclaimer: This is not a full tutorial nor do I claim ownership to this sewing pattern!!)
I am on Winter break from school right now which means LOTS of free time! I thoguht it would be a good idea to attempt to make my first dress in less than 48 hours.. and youknow, it was! It turned out amazing and I used a free pattern I found on http://so-sew-easy.com/
I wanted to make a violet knit wrap dress to wear to Christmas Eve mass. Of course I scoured Pinterest and YouTube looking for a tutorial or a free pattern and I found both! I've never worked with a printable pattern before so taping all the pieces together and then cutting them out was sort of a hassle.
The pattern is available in small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes so I would recommend this to all body types! (plus it makes your boobs look good if you decide to make a lower neckline-- let's keep it tasteful though).
For reference, my measurements are 33-28-39" so I took a guess and went with the "small" size option.
I then took a trip to my local JoAnn fabrics, which unfortunately relocated to 20 minutes away which made me sad but it has a wider selection and more employees now which is very exciting!!) I picked up about 3 yards of a purple rayon which was plenty of fabric and I even cut out the skirt twice and made longer sleeves! I think 2 yards is enough to make a medium or small- but if you make lots of mistakes like me or simply need a bigger size, go for 3 yards!
What I love about working with knits is that you hardly need another other notions like zippers or buttons.. elastic for the waistband and stay tape for your seams are optional. (I used neither and it came out fine!)
Obviously I would be silly of me to repeat all of the instructions for making the dress, so go ahead and check out the original tutorial here. Unfortunately, I took no pictures in the process of making this dress since I was crunched for time, but I will share some tips as well as what I've learned from this project.
The hardest part of the dress was constructing the bodice. The instructions aren't thorough enough for the inexperienced sewist, so keep that in mind! It took me a while to figure out the pleats and how to pin the pieces together. I recommend trying on whatever you have after each step to ensure a perfect fit!
OK HERE IS MY BIGGEST TIP FOR THIS AND ALL KNIT SEWING PROJECTS: straight stitches make it more difficult for the knit fabric to stretch- so try a stretch stitch for your seams and a small zig-zag stitch for hems.
These are the stitch and settings I used for the side seams and sleeves. I used a straight stitch for any stitching that would show such as the hem around the neckline, which needs to lay flat, the shoulder seams, and at the waist (which you could actually sew using a stretch stitch as well).
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday & Happy New Year!!
These are the stitch and settings I used for the side seams and sleeves. I used a straight stitch for any stitching that would show such as the hem around the neckline, which needs to lay flat, the shoulder seams, and at the waist (which you could actually sew using a stretch stitch as well).
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday & Happy New Year!!
