I am, most certainly, a dress fanatic. They are so easy to wear, quick to sew and everyone looks good in them. I wish I lived the sort of life where I could wear one every day! (the getting on the floor to change umpteen poopy diapers generally prohibits this).
I snatched this Denver dress (and tunic!) pattern up when it was discounted as part of the latest Pattern Anthology bundle and it’s pretty fab.
To be honest, I had a similar style dress with princess seams hanging out in my mental design queue waiting for me to create a pattern for it. I still might design a woven dress with the elements I was dreaming of, but this is a fantastic knit version! This fabric is actually a stretch woven (from Joann Fabrics) and I’m so in love with the print and feel of it that I wanna marry it.
Here’s the part where I tell you my screw ups: I originally had other plans for this fabric and had even sewn it up in a different dress pattern. I was just shy of putting buttons on it when I realized that the style did this miraculous fabric no justice and that I really wanted to try a fitted sheath dress instead.
SO, then I meticulously seam ripped and cut and finagled my way into cutting new pieces for the Denver dress out of what I took apart. Of course, I was short. So I did what anyone else would do…and I pieced it all together out of scraps! Hahaha. Look closely and you’ll be able to tell where…namely the front yoke (there’s no V-shape in the original dress), the pockets (mine are 2 pieces) and I sacrificed some sleeve length.
I also pieced together one of the side front pieces but it’s under the pocket so you can’t see the seam. HA! I BEAT YOU, too-small fabric scraps! I used some store bought bias tape to trim the pockets (BEST part about this dress! Pockets are my errythang). and I also changed the neckline to a facing using the same bias tape. The woven just didn’t work with an exposed neckband.
As you’ll notice above, there’s a bit of bunching fabric in the back, mainly because the fabric is quite slippery and tends to ride up. The fit of this pattern is fabulous…I just have to figure out a way to keep it put. Maybe some sticky underwear?!?! Let me know if you have any ideas!
All in all, I really love how it turned out…even if it doesn’t exactly minimize the nursing bosom. Whatevs. This fabric is too awesome for me to care.
2 Comments
Heidi
December 29, 2015 at 9:34 amSuper pretty!!
Rachel
January 12, 2016 at 9:57 amI love this!