New Dress Alert

I have been so busy sewing knits over the past few months I decided to try my hand at sewing up a few woven patterns. Note to self - woven material is not as forgiving of mis read measurements :(

When I went fabric shopping to the skirt I recently completed I saw the fabric that another sewist I follow had used to make the Styla Dallas Dress. It jumped in my cart too! It is a rayon blend of some sort. All the material in the most abusive way possible before I cut out anything. I would rather "ruin" a fabric before I invest time and energy into sewing a garment, than after.

A reading of the fabric requirements a little closer would have been a good idea. I ended up with enough material to complete the dress, but I did have to do some creative seaming on the gathered edge pieces.

The bodice is completely lined.

There was also some creative seaming on the back piece of the lining. The sleeves are set in - which the more I sew I realize is in many ways not my preferred method. It is a crossover bodice, which I will discuss toward the end of this post.

You can use just the skirt portion of the dress to make a skirt. This would look cute but I live in a place that can be windy. Wrap around skirts that could fly open are not a look I am trying to achieve. There is A LOT of gathering on the skirt edges.

I pulled the threads and hoped that nothing snapped. I basted on the gathered edge first to make sure it was semi-evenly distributed.

It does look cute when on a body. I am not sure how much wear it will get. The crossover bodice is not one that I find very comfortable. I teach small children and bend over quite frequently. I will have to sew in a snap to keep it from being too low cut and even then not sure how practical it is for a kindergarten teacher to wear in her daily work.

It might just be a dress up dinner date outfit. The pattern itself was well drafted and the directions were very clear. The fabric washes well and does not wrinkle.