I don’t know why I don’t have more maxi dresses. They really are very comfortable for our hot summers. If made out of knit fabric, all the more so. Of course I set out to remedy the situation.
On a recent trip to the garment district I picked up two knits for $6 at Michael Levine’s Loft. I recently learned a new sewing term Frankenpattern. Aleah, came up with the name. I met her at the sewist meeting in LA and it was from her stash that I snagged the Jay McCarroll knit print I used recently.
Going through my vast pattern collection I decided to use this as a basis for my dress.
This has been in my stash for a while, so can I consider this free?
Version B is what really caught my eye. This pattern is designed for woven fabrics. That is the beauty of Frankenpattern, at some point one gets good enough at sewing that mixing and matching pattern pieces. Or adapting a pattern from woven to knit is an easy thing to do.
I cut the bodice a size smaller. I didn’t want to deal with pleats, so used gathers instead. No, the placement of the gathers isn’t perfect. This is just an easy knock around dress – perfection is not called for.
This isn’t a symmetrical fabric, so I felt this placement of the stripes on the center triangle was most pleasing. I also am happy with symmetry of the diagonal pieces. One thing I have been doing lately is lining the bodice with a thin cotton knit fabric. This gives clean edges to the armholes and neckline as well as giving a little more structure to the bodice.
Light and airy from the back as well.
A very successful dress from $3 worth of fabric, an old pattern and a few hours to cut and sew.
Leah
Ooh, I love this, Leah! I’m still a beginner (maybe intermediate), but a dress is next on my list of things to make.
Check out Collette patterns, https://www.colettepatterns.com/sewing/laurel, Laurel is a very simple dress. Sure you pay a lot for the pattern but you do get very good instructions – so it’s worth it.
This is fabulous! I love the stripe placement, it’s perfect. The Loft has had a lot of great striped knits lately, I got a bunch too (though not this one, too bad).
And I’m not sure I coined the term Frankenpattern, but I feel it’s the best description of what I like to do. The term I did make up that applies to your dress too is “knit-ify”, which is making a woven pattern in a jersey, and I do that all the time too!
Knit-ify, perfect term. I got another stripe that I am turning into a dress very soon.
Ohh I love this dress! That stripy fabric is just lovely, and it even matches your house!