3 years ago
Hi friends 👋 this time I am going back to an old favourite dress pattern of mine to recreate what I am seeing all over the shops at the moment.
A few weeks ago I spent a few hours window shopping at a local retail park trying to see what styles and designs I liked the look of, so that I could perhaps make something similar myself. What I did see were lots and lots of tiered jersey dresses. So this was the inspiration that I came away with for my post today...
Let's have a chat about the fabric. Over the last few months I have been trying to introduce more plain fabrics into my handmade wardrobe, and despite always being a floral fabric lover (I still am btw), I have been enjoying the simplicity of them.
The fabric that I have used for this dress is the Minerva Core Range Bamboo Jersey Stretch Knit Fabric. I will link it below in case you would like to take a look at it. It's available in 14 different colours and has a medium weight. It's beautifully soft and washes like a dream.
It's very stable to sew with and I was particularly pleased with how the neckband lays nice and flat when stretched into place. Don't forget to use your stretch/ballpoint needle and use a stretch stitch on your machine.
The pattern that I have used is New Look 6533. This is a really old pattern of mine, and sadly I cannot find this on the Minerva site, but an alternative suggestion over here (which I will again link to below) is the Style Arc Montana Midi Dress which in some ways is even better as the Style Arc pattern is suitable for knit AND woven fabrics!
I have only made this pattern once before and one thing to note is that there is a great deal of ease built into it. I had to make an XS size to get the fit I wanted (there is no way that I am an XS - I am a UK size 12 ish). So that's something to watch.
I wanted the skirt section of the dress to have 2 deep tiers (rather than the usual upper deep tier and lower tier much skinnier in comparison) hope this makes sense! So I cut the top tier to the same width as the pattern (ie giving me the same intense gather), but cut the drop at 18". I then cut the lower tier drop at 13". This lower tier is much less intensity of gather that the upper tier, but this gives a nice balance I think. (Also this was the entire width of the fabric)!
Looking back at it now I wonder if I should have reduced the gather in the upper tier, as the weight of the fabric slightly pulls the bodice down - which also isn't a bad thing as the pattern is a baby doll style dress and the waist seam was a little too high for my shape anyway!
When sewing the gathered tiers I did add a strip of woven tape to act as a stay tape to stop any stretching.
I also added pockets, these are not part of the pattern.
This pattern also calls for elastic to be added at the waist seam, but as I didn't want any cinching in, I omitted this step.
The pictures were taken in glorious sunshine and the dress felt cool and comfortable, but this is the ideal dress to wear with leggings, or with a cardigan or denim jacket if it's cooler and you're good to go.
Enjoy that sunshine wherever you are, and happy sewing, Kathy x
(@sew_dainty on Instagram)
❤
#ForTheLoveOfFabric #NewLookPatterns #MinervaBrandAmbassador #DressmakingPatterns #HandmadeWardrobe #SewingPatterns #JerseyFabric #SecretPyjamas #TieredDress
❤
A few weeks ago I spent a few hours window shopping at a local retail park trying to see what styles and designs I liked the look of, so that I could perhaps make something similar myself. What I did see were lots and lots of tiered jersey dresses. So this was the inspiration that I came away with for my post today...
Let's have a chat about the fabric. Over the last few months I have been trying to introduce more plain fabrics into my handmade wardrobe, and despite always being a floral fabric lover (I still am btw), I have been enjoying the simplicity of them.
The fabric that I have used for this dress is the Minerva Core Range Bamboo Jersey Stretch Knit Fabric. I will link it below in case you would like to take a look at it. It's available in 14 different colours and has a medium weight. It's beautifully soft and washes like a dream.
It's very stable to sew with and I was particularly pleased with how the neckband lays nice and flat when stretched into place. Don't forget to use your stretch/ballpoint needle and use a stretch stitch on your machine.
The pattern that I have used is New Look 6533. This is a really old pattern of mine, and sadly I cannot find this on the Minerva site, but an alternative suggestion over here (which I will again link to below) is the Style Arc Montana Midi Dress which in some ways is even better as the Style Arc pattern is suitable for knit AND woven fabrics!
I have only made this pattern once before and one thing to note is that there is a great deal of ease built into it. I had to make an XS size to get the fit I wanted (there is no way that I am an XS - I am a UK size 12 ish). So that's something to watch.
I wanted the skirt section of the dress to have 2 deep tiers (rather than the usual upper deep tier and lower tier much skinnier in comparison) hope this makes sense! So I cut the top tier to the same width as the pattern (ie giving me the same intense gather), but cut the drop at 18". I then cut the lower tier drop at 13". This lower tier is much less intensity of gather that the upper tier, but this gives a nice balance I think. (Also this was the entire width of the fabric)!
Looking back at it now I wonder if I should have reduced the gather in the upper tier, as the weight of the fabric slightly pulls the bodice down - which also isn't a bad thing as the pattern is a baby doll style dress and the waist seam was a little too high for my shape anyway!
When sewing the gathered tiers I did add a strip of woven tape to act as a stay tape to stop any stretching.
I also added pockets, these are not part of the pattern.
This pattern also calls for elastic to be added at the waist seam, but as I didn't want any cinching in, I omitted this step.
The pictures were taken in glorious sunshine and the dress felt cool and comfortable, but this is the ideal dress to wear with leggings, or with a cardigan or denim jacket if it's cooler and you're good to go.
Enjoy that sunshine wherever you are, and happy sewing, Kathy x
(@sew_dainty on Instagram)
❤
#ForTheLoveOfFabric #NewLookPatterns #MinervaBrandAmbassador #DressmakingPatterns #HandmadeWardrobe #SewingPatterns #JerseyFabric #SecretPyjamas #TieredDress
❤
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