6 years ago
Hi friends
I am so delighted to share this make with you! Have you ever sewn with Viscose twill? It is beautifully swishy, and drapes gorgeously. It has slightly more weight and texture than rayon challis. It is also not fussy and shifty like rayon which is like the best of both worlds - well-behaved fabric with an amazing drape!
This would work beautifully for jumpsuits, dresses and even dress pants. The print and the colors in this fabric are so rich and vibrant, I couldn’t think of anything but a long flowy maxi dress with all the pretty paisleys on display.
For the pattern, I used the Madrid dress by coffee and thread patterns. The madrid dress is a faux wrap dress with a tiered skirt. It has bust darts, shoulder darts and darts in the back bodice as well so it fits beautifully. It also has an invisible zipper in the side so you can get in and out of the dress easily. It has three sleeve options - regular short and long and a short flutter sleeve. The pattern calls for over 4 yards of fabric but because I end up shortening most patterns by a good 4-5” I can usually get away with less yardage. Even then, I was quite happy to be able to get this dress in only 3 yards. I did use every last bit of it :)
I have made this pattern before and it was such a big achievement because wrap dresses have notoriously been difficult for me mainly in terms of fitting. I had to make several adjustments but once I was able to figure those out, I realized how much I loved wrap dresses. First, I shortened the bodice by 3/4″ and did a small bust adjustment. Then I moved the front waist dart towards the center front by 1/2″ and the side darts up by 1/2″. I also shaved off 1/8″ from the armscye. It probably seems like a lot but shortening bodices and moving darts is a common adjustment for most woven patterns for me. Since I was making the dress full length, I picked the short flutter sleeves option.
For the skirt, I shortened each of the tiers in such a way that they would all be of the same height.
Because the fabric is so easy to handle, cutting was fast and easy. The fabric is stable and presses well so it didn't cause any weird stretching or pulling at the neckline which is always an issue with slippery fabrics. After the bodice is assembled, it’s only a matter of attaching each skirt tier which is quite time consuming because of the sheer volume of fabric that needs to be gathered. But when you’re working with stable fabrics such as this, gathering and attaching the skirt pieces is much easier. I also skipped the waist ties because I love the fit as is and don’t feel the need to further cinch in the waist.
I love this dress so much and wear it a lot because it’s so soft and comfortable and makes me feel beautiful.
Thank you Minerva for the opportunity to work with another new substrate. This was a project that I immensely enjoyed right from planning the dress and cutting the fabric down to photographing my finished dress.
-Indu
#minervamakes #minervamakers #memade #minervablogger #sewingblogger #handmadewithlove #sewinglove #ilovesewing #slowfashion #diyfashion #diystyle #isewmyclothes #handmadeeveryday #handmadefashion #imakemyownclothes #viscosetwill #viscosetwillfabric #madriddress #coffeeandthreadpatterns #coffeeandthread #fortheloveofsewing #sewingcommunity #sewingeveryday #handmadewardrobe #handmadesstyle #ilovetosew #sewsewsew
I am so delighted to share this make with you! Have you ever sewn with Viscose twill? It is beautifully swishy, and drapes gorgeously. It has slightly more weight and texture than rayon challis. It is also not fussy and shifty like rayon which is like the best of both worlds - well-behaved fabric with an amazing drape!
This would work beautifully for jumpsuits, dresses and even dress pants. The print and the colors in this fabric are so rich and vibrant, I couldn’t think of anything but a long flowy maxi dress with all the pretty paisleys on display.
For the pattern, I used the Madrid dress by coffee and thread patterns. The madrid dress is a faux wrap dress with a tiered skirt. It has bust darts, shoulder darts and darts in the back bodice as well so it fits beautifully. It also has an invisible zipper in the side so you can get in and out of the dress easily. It has three sleeve options - regular short and long and a short flutter sleeve. The pattern calls for over 4 yards of fabric but because I end up shortening most patterns by a good 4-5” I can usually get away with less yardage. Even then, I was quite happy to be able to get this dress in only 3 yards. I did use every last bit of it :)
I have made this pattern before and it was such a big achievement because wrap dresses have notoriously been difficult for me mainly in terms of fitting. I had to make several adjustments but once I was able to figure those out, I realized how much I loved wrap dresses. First, I shortened the bodice by 3/4″ and did a small bust adjustment. Then I moved the front waist dart towards the center front by 1/2″ and the side darts up by 1/2″. I also shaved off 1/8″ from the armscye. It probably seems like a lot but shortening bodices and moving darts is a common adjustment for most woven patterns for me. Since I was making the dress full length, I picked the short flutter sleeves option.
For the skirt, I shortened each of the tiers in such a way that they would all be of the same height.
Because the fabric is so easy to handle, cutting was fast and easy. The fabric is stable and presses well so it didn't cause any weird stretching or pulling at the neckline which is always an issue with slippery fabrics. After the bodice is assembled, it’s only a matter of attaching each skirt tier which is quite time consuming because of the sheer volume of fabric that needs to be gathered. But when you’re working with stable fabrics such as this, gathering and attaching the skirt pieces is much easier. I also skipped the waist ties because I love the fit as is and don’t feel the need to further cinch in the waist.
I love this dress so much and wear it a lot because it’s so soft and comfortable and makes me feel beautiful.
Thank you Minerva for the opportunity to work with another new substrate. This was a project that I immensely enjoyed right from planning the dress and cutting the fabric down to photographing my finished dress.
-Indu
#minervamakes #minervamakers #memade #minervablogger #sewingblogger #handmadewithlove #sewinglove #ilovesewing #slowfashion #diyfashion #diystyle #isewmyclothes #handmadeeveryday #handmadefashion #imakemyownclothes #viscosetwill #viscosetwillfabric #madriddress #coffeeandthreadpatterns #coffeeandthread #fortheloveofsewing #sewingcommunity #sewingeveryday #handmadewardrobe #handmadesstyle #ilovetosew #sewsewsew