Sew The Look: Wrap Dress

Do you ever have a project where it turns out wearable, as long as you don't look too close? This was one of those projects for me. I mostly have to chalk it up to a learning experience and go forward better. The inspiration came as I was lost in an online browsing session of new retailers and along came this wrap dress. It looked like a great, easy summer time dress that has been on my to do list. I did want to make a couple of changes, like shorten the skirt and the sleeves just to suit my frame.

Inspo image

I started with using The Eve Dress by Sew Over It, but wow that pattern was not drafted for my body type. Everything was much broader than my bone structures can support. It fit me so poorly that I could not even move my arms. I absolutely adore Lisa Comfort and her patterns. They are both the cutest, but her patterns are drafted for someone with a broader bone structure than I have. And so the trouble with this style began.
 I ended up scraping the bodice portion entirely and patterned one myself. Three muslin's later, I had a good, hard won starting point.

The construction process started with thread tracing the pattern pieces at the stitching line, which given the drape and content should have just been done with tailors chalk. The thread stuck to the fabric too strongly and caused some thread pulling and snagging when I was removing it. Before cutting out the pieces, I added twill tape to the neckline on all the bodice pieces. Since this material easily stretches and warps on the bias, my thinking was that this would ensure the shape. I still believe that this is decent in theory, however it was the materials that let me down. I used a polyester twill tape and it is far too stiff for the fabric. I believe that I should have used a cotton based one, or even better, made one out of the fabric salvage. 

The side seams, sleeves and shoulder seams were done by machine and the raw edge was overlocked to prevent raveling. The hemming and neckline fold over was simple in concept. It was done by overlocking the edge for stability and than hand turning and hand stitching the edge of the garment. This took ages, but it gave it a very clean finish. I used silk top stitch thread that I had left over from my lace trench coat's button holes. This thread is a little heavier weight than the all purpose thread and if I were to make this garment all over again, I would have used the all purpose thread coated in bees wax. Due to the thickness of the thread, there are a few points that the fabric threads were pulled askew as the thread was pulled through. 

I was pleased with the thread loop that I made to hold the tie on the side. 

I finished the dress with a snap closure, but installed the snaps opposite to what it should be. What can I say? Some projects are just sideways.