This piece of merino wool knit has had me paralyzed for weeks. I spent such a long time looking for it, and I was so looking forward to sewing it, and then when it got properly cold I couldn’t make up my mind what I wanted to make it into. I’d originally planned on a cardigan, but then thought maybe a dress. I went through 4 or 5 dress patterns before doing the sensible thing and asking my sister what she thought. She said, this one:
which was good because that’s the one I liked best too, but bad because I didn’t actually have a pattern for it, just this picture from the internet. It does look rather like my favorite t-shirt pattern though (albeit longer) so that’s what I went with. I even muslined the skirt section in some $2.99 ponte knit I had lying around. I still had to do a fair bit of tweaking to get it to fit and fold properly; just no way for me to tell how a knit is going to stretch and sit until it is actually made up. All in all a pretty cozy winter dress.
I was rushing to finish it before meeting friends for the symphony last night. We did make our bus (barely) but I’m afraid I may have hemmed it a bit short. What do you think?
Faye Lewis | 31-Jan-10 at 4:08 pm | Permalink
That is a wonderful dress. Great fit.
Mary Nanna | 31-Jan-10 at 6:07 pm | Permalink
It looks great! Very clever of you to use your tee pattern. The more I sew, the more paralysed I get by “winging” it – even simple things like lengthening or shortening a sleeve make me think,”will I ruin the proportions, do I need to eliminate the fullness around the elbow etc” – sometimes it’s really good to play with things and try it out, with a muslin you’ve got nothing to lose.
Amy | 31-Jan-10 at 9:01 pm | Permalink
I think it looks perfect. In fact, I’d love to have a dress like that myself
I showed my 8yo son some of your paintings and prints. He’s in awe of your mad skillz. Me too, for that matter
Hatty | 01-Feb-10 at 7:49 am | Permalink
You are so talented at cutting and pattern design. I have been sewing for years and still don’t dare just look at something and then make it without a pattern. must be you artist’s eye and sense of proportion. Your dress is much better than the one off the internet. It is cut better and hangs better. Good cutting and good choice of fabric.
Mighty Macaque | 01-Feb-10 at 8:21 pm | Permalink
Have you tried the dress with the vest? I sense an outfit coming together!
Laura | 03-Feb-10 at 5:47 pm | Permalink
I don’t think it’s too short. Yes, it’s shorter than your skirts normally are, but it looked super cute Saturday night. I think if it were longer it would lose some of its shape and not have as nice a silhouette.