I had several family members in town for the 4th so the weekend was full of excitement, and we will go for ice cream tonight. YAY!
I took this photos yesterday but this is how I'm rocking my new dress for work today so... :)
Since I'll be working on my birthday and am still pretty wiped by the end of the workday, I decided I shall have a new dress and delicious donuts!
About a month ago I was going through old pictures and in one I had on a shirtdress which looking at it now, I realized that it was a knit. I decided that I had.to.have.one!!! I have a few shirtdress patterns (the famous M6696 that didn't yield a promising muslin for me), plus a few more.
I chose the Lisette Traveler because of the easy style. It only has bust darts and has a slight A-line. I didn't want to be doing a whole bunch of darts and stuff in jersey.
I chose this fabric because:
1) I love it!
2) I have several yards of it
3) It does roll a little but not too badly. It is really easy to sew and presses well.
Of course, it came from Fabric Mart :) And I only paid $2.10 per yard for it!
This pattern is made for wovens so I figured I would be good using the size 14 and making some adjustments. The pattern has bust measurements but no others. I did flat pattern measurements to figure out how much hip room I needed because let's face it, knit or not my behind is not fitting into a size 14!
I'm so smart that I recorded it right on the envelope!
I decided I needed AT least 2" additional inches on the hip. I couldn't figure out the adjustment as it is one piece (no waist seam).
I had to cut the pattern piece apart to make it click. SHEESH!! When I tweaked my B5760 TNT skirt, I found happiness in a 16 front and 18 back. So I left the front as is on this one, adding only to the back.
I did a slash and spread, using the same method as FFRP uses for adding bicep width, adding 1" to the hip area (~9" from the waistline)
And then I taped the bodice back on it! :) Hey, it worked!
I added 1/2" to the bicep which was perfect! It's a loose sleeve so I wanted it to just graze.
Plus a 1/2" narrow shoulder adjustment
WHEW! NOW WE CAN FINALLY SEW!!!
Sewing darts in this fabric was no problem. Anticipating all heck breaking loose with the bands and collar, I interfaced BOTH the main piece and the facing for each and made my life easier. For the bands, I cut a rectangle slightly larger and "block fused" the pieces, then cut the bands out from the interfaced fabric.
The collar has an integrated stand and collar which per reviews, a lot of people didn't care for, I liked it for this casual pattern! And my collar is nice and crisp with the dual interfacing.
As you can see, I used snaps instead of buttons. With my husband's new set up in the garage, this went much better than the last time I used snaps on my Vogue shirt. I don't find setting snaps "hard" at all, but people tend to tout them as a more convenient closure over buttons but I don't know about all that...Thankfully, I only had to reset one, the rest went in very well.
The sleeves are loose fitting. I wanted the turned up look without showing the wrong side of the fabric or the serging. I turned up a 3" hem, stitched it in place and then folded to the outside ~1.5".
Just before taking pics, I added non-functioning sleeve tabs. I like them and feel they were needed.
Want to scroll back up? LOL! I don't even want to know the adjustments I'd need to make for this to work in a woven. Soooooo maybe this will be my TNT knit shirtdress pattern? :)
I sewed a 5/8" narrow hem and actually hand stitched the collar facing. Again, jersey+fiddly details = No thank you.
I feel AMAZING in this dress!!! I am excited for what age 36 has in store for me!
