One thing I love to have in Summer is a pull on dress. I’ve been toying with the idea of a long tunic or maxi dress for this summer, but finding something in my size that fits, flatters and doesn’t drag a foot along the floor is very difficult. Thankfully I have sewing skills and a Mother-in-Law with an overlocker. This green dress has a line that I really like. Deep V neck, short sleeves (kimono in this case), and a light gather around the centre.
Finding a pattern for said dress however, has been a bit difficult. It seems that there are only two styles readily available by the “Big 4” pattern brands, neither of which I was terribly in love with. So then it came to looking at empire waisted tops/tunics that could be altered slightly to fit the bill, and yet again the latest available patterns fell short of impressing me. Thankfully between the MIL & I we have a fairly extensive pattern collection. So the hunt was on!
My answer came in the form of a long discontinued pattern, Simplicity 5570. No, it’s not a dress, but the under the bust line, sleeve and the fact it will slide on over my head is exactly what I’m looking for. There shouldn’t be much that needs to be done to the pattern in way of alterations, maybe just some shoulder/bust/arm stuff. All it needs is to be dress length. EASY!
The hard part was finding fabric. It seems that the call for a ‘dry knit’ or decent weight cotton blend jerseys are not that easy to find. Thankfully I happened across something hidden in the sale rack at my local fabric store. It’s a lovely fabric, deep border (that top flower is about 80cm from the base) and 150cm wide. I should have enough after for either another top, or a skirt after the dress is done. There was 3 metres left on the roll, so at $10/m I grabbed it all.
Once I got home, I remembered I also had a lovely dry knit that I bought about 6 years ago, well before I was a mum. It was originally destined for a long sleeved crossover top, but for some reason I never did cut into it. I have about 2.5 metres, so more than enough for at least a knee length dress.
I do love having dresses to wear, particularly in Summer. And I think both fabrics have the potential to make great all round “dress up or down” dresses.
My only problem now? ……. Shoes.
BWAHAHAHAHA!
Love it! DO you do lessons? I have an overlocker, but am sadly without a clue.
I have to admit, I’m not that brilliant on the overlocker myself. I usually do the preliminary work and hand it to my MIL to finish off… LOL