October 27, 2013

A dotty Parisienne number


After years of nice-jersey famine, I finally find myself in a feast! Yay for that. However I figured that I should probably make *some* attempt to make dresses other than my basic wrap dress pattern (despite the fact that I like it very much).
So, perusing Pinterest pattern boards, I came across Simplicity 2217 which I thought looked like a great alternative.
It wasn’t until I got it though that I realised it’s for woven fabrics, not knits. Oops. The reason this matters is because you have to make stretchy and non-stretchy clothes in different ways, and the pattern pieces tend to be a bit different. However I decided to be a brave, brave, seamstress and try to figure it out anyway. This meant removing the zip (and therefore making the back bodice one piece rather than two), and eliminating the kick pleat (which is only needed in woven fabric so you can walk – with stretch fabric that’s not an issue).
I used a very dark brown dotty jersey I bought in Paris last year, and it proved just the job:
This photo isn’t brilliant because you can’t see the waistband and bodice pleats and so on, but you get the idea. I do like the general shape, and I’m considering making a sleeveless cocktail-dress version in a lovely black basket-weave wool that I bought in Portland this summer…
And finally. Me and a dog. No explanation needed.

3 thoughts on “A dotty Parisienne number

  1. Jenny, this dress is gorgeous! I absolutely love how the shape of the pattern hugs your body. It’s such a sexy, but grown-up silhouette. Besides, any time one can say “Oh, this fabric? I bought it in Paris.” a garment is an automatic hit.

    Love it.

  2. Jenny says:

    Thanks so much Mary – that means a lot coming from you – I love your blog!

  3. Purity says:

    Love it. I also have this pattern and my question is to convert the pattern to a knit did you go down a size or two?

Let me know what you think!