Sometimes the simplest and easiest sewing projects end up being the ones I wear the most. This is true for this dress here and ditto for this skirt and the wool jersey leggings I will blog about in the fall (because really, we don't need to think about wool leggings right now).
So this dress was my muslin (of sorts) for the green dress I made a bit back. It's basically just a blouse pattern that I lengthened and added a collar with a rolled hem edge. There is no closure, it's loose enough to fit over my head, and I just belt it—or not. There are two bust darts, used from the blouse pattern, but it's debatable if they are even needed. It's sheer, so I wear it with a slip. The bottom hem is a rolled edge done with the serger, just like he collar edge.
The fabric is a polyester—I know! I just never thought I'd use polyester, but again, this was supposed to be a practice dress and the print was so pretty, so I bought it just in case it turned out rad, which it did. I found the fabric at Mill End Store and it was in the lingerie section. To minimize cursing, I used a needle for fine weight fabrics. Easy as pie. I made this before I made my green dress, so it was a long time ago—and I am only really appreciating it now because it's finally warm enough to wear.
The ease of this dress almost makes me want to sew nothing else but about 5 more, but I love new details and challenges so I know I will keep trying new designs—but DANG this one is a keeper. It only works with very lightweight sheer-ish fabric. It's all about the drape. The collar was just pinned on and sort of sculpted and then stitched by machine when it looked right. I'm not sure if I could have done this without a dress form, which I use constantly.
Details and Specs:
I know I'm not really linking to pattern here. I used this blouse pattern minus the closure and the facing and made it longer, and a bit wider and added the ruffle style collar. Ultimately, I used a different pattern for the green dress, which I link to in that post but check the bust darts on that pattern before you sew, they were crazy on me.
