Two more knit dresses

First dress is more of a wearable muslin. I had this cotton knit in red, a warm red with a tiny touch of orange. I normally prefer cotton/lycra to cotton jersey, so I decided to make a wearable muslin - I will make this dress again in black, for salsa dancing and going out.

It is Burda World of Fashion 05/2008, dress 104.



I don't have many things to say about this dress, it is easy to make, you can see more close-ups than I managed to take on my friend Tany's blog - the post about the saffron dress. A few words about changes made and changes that will be made:

• I didn't insert a zipper - why does Burda plans for a zipper in a very elastic dress, it's a total mystery to me. You simply don't need it.
  
• I once again refer you to the Burda workshop about jersey - very useful, especially the part about stabilising necklines and armholes with bias fusible tape, staystitched with a chainstitch (you buy it in notion stores - see a photo on Tany's blog, in this post) - they say how you should fuse this tape - the chainstitch must be placed on the stitching line. I didn't know that and have wondered how I should do it.
• I made a mistake and cut a different pattern piece for the belt. The dress has a symmetrical belt, the asymmetrical belt that I cut was meant for the top using the same pattern - this top. I actually prefer asymmetry to symmetry in many cases, but in this particular case, I do think the dress would look better with the symmetrical belt.
  

• I used a metal buckle (the only one I had in my stash) but a plastic one would be better. The metal is heavier and pulls a bit the belt.
  
• Next time I make this dress I will make the neckline wider, shortening the shoulders at neck by about 2 cm (approx 0.8") on each side. A wider neckline would look better on me. I might draw a deeper neckline as well, since this dress will be for going out. As it is, this is a very non-Burda cleavage, meaning very decent as compared to their regular plunging necklines :)
• For the next dress, I will lengthen the self-lining part of the bodice to reach under my bust. I plan to insert bra cups in the lining and finish the end of the lining with elastic.
  

Even if I'm not totally happy with this dress, it got me plenty of compliments at work (probably because of the colour too).

And now, my absolute favourite dress so far:



This is Burda WOF 02/2008, dress 103.

Once more, go to Tany's blog - this post - to see more close-ups and explanations concerning the construction of the front knotted/draped detail. I read the Burda instructions a couple of times to understand how I'm supposed to do this. It is not that difficult actually, pretty straightforward once you get it.

I made the short-sleeved version but I'm totally in love with this dress - it was such a success that a woman stopped me in the street to ask me where I bought this gorgeous dress - so I'll definitely make the 3/4 sleeve version too, probably for fall and that one will be underlined.

I made a petite alteration to the pattern and that's all. The fabric is cotton/lycra, a lovely shade of green. Even after the petite alteration, the dress was quite long, therefore I made a wider hem and I love this look. I think I'll only use wide hems from now on on knits (about 5 cm = approx 2"), they give such an elegant appearance, especially when used in a dress.



This dress is the perfect example of instant gratification. Three hours for making it (including cutting the pattern, as it was traced, but not cut) and maximum impact because of the very interesting design. I could see this dress made again with the top part changed to a cami style - the raglan construction would be so easy to turn into a strap-design.

And for hemming knits, I've been using this tip by Sewing Diva Gigi for quite some time now. Great tip, it definitely improved the appearance of my hems. Her tip is for a coverstitch machine, but it works equally well when you sew your knit hems with a twin needle, on your regular machine, like I do.