I sewed a summer dress. I love how it turned out. The previous dress I made was from a pattern, but this dress is a combination of one of my favourite RTW dresses and the bodice from a Burda pattern. I cut out the bodice according the pattern piece but the next morning I decided to change the bodice to a v-neck, which ended up being a great idea. I wanted it to look more like the RTW dress I already had, but with a back, not a halter style.

The original RTW dress is cut on the bias, which is something I’ve never tried sewing before. Sewing on the bias I found out is not easy, and this fabric, a cotton linen blend, is a bit of a shifty fabric. But I think it turned out alright despite the difficulties sewing on the bias brings. What sewing this dress has taught me is that I should try to make myself a bodice sloper. I have never sewn a garment that has a fitted bodice before and therefore, having that template would make sewing another fitted bodice in future a more simple process.

PATTERN

a picture of the pattern pieces being cut out. The fabric is plaid, white orange and pink shades.

I’ve always loved how the RTW dress looked on me, so I decided to make a rip-off, but with modifications. I didn’t want another halter style dress so I added a back to the dress. I meant to add the bodice from the Burda dress but I’m glad I changed my mind. The skirt portion of the garment was copied from a RTW dress exactly as is. No modifications were needed, and I added the band as well.

a woman holding a summer halter style dress in white, red and orange stripes., with a white wall behind.
a woman holding a summer dress, with a pink bodice and grey skirt. There is a white wall behind.
a picture of the front of a dress. The lining is pink and the outside fabric is plaid, white orange and pink shades. The garment tag says "I am an original".

When making the bodice I found that the front was not lying close to my body. I added a bit of elastic down the centre seem which provided the tension needed to keep the fabric lying close to my body. I worked just as I hoped it would.

INSTRUCTIONS

I did not have any instructions to use since the dress is not from a pattern so I made my own by looking at how the RTW garment was constructed and using my sewing experience. Darts first. Like always.

The dress is fairly simple which made the order of construction fairly simple. My seam ripper was needed more than I wanted! I made sure to stay-stitch all the garment pieces at the very beginning, before doing any further sewing to try to prevent the pieces from stretching out. The lining was cut on the grain in an effort to provide some stability to the bodice.

a picture of a woman wearing a plaid dress with a white wall behind her. The dress is in a white, pink and orange plaid.

FABRIC

For sewing this dress I used a lovely cotton linen blend from Blackbird Fabrics that I had bought a few years ago. I don’t think I’ve ever had a plaid garment before. The colours are vibrant and I love the feel of the fabric. I bought a piece cotton for the bodice lining as I did not have anything appropriate at home. All other fabrics and notions were already in my stash.

This is my third dress in a row. Next up will be three skirts. I’m making a few of each type of garment in an effort to improve my sewing skills. With each garment I look for new skills to try or to improve.

Pattern: RTW by @Reitmans and bodice is Burda 7043

Fabric: @blackbirdfabrics cotton linen blend plaid

Lining: @Fabricland, cotton

Label: Intensely Distracted: “I am an original”

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