Last Saturday I decided I needed something new in my wardrobe. I’ve had about two yards of this wood grain fabric in my stash for the last couple of months & have been meaning to do something with it, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make a top or a skirt. So I basically made both: a sheath dress.
This fabric is light-weight, stretchy, but with a surprising amount of “body” to it. The rolled details add a lot of visual interest as well as wiggle room. Wiggle room for imperfect seams. Jersey can sure be a pain in the neck to sew if you don’t have a surger. Which I obviously don’t have. Here’s how I made this little number and how you can make one of your own:
- Fold the fabric in half right sides together. Smooth out.
- Lay down a dress (or fitted tee & pencil skirt) that has the cut you want. Be sure to lay the garment(s) & fabric perfectly flat. Wrinkles will mess you up.
- Cut out the fabric including seam allowances. I did a 1/2 inch seam allowance all the way around & 3 inches at the bottom. You can always cut it if it’s too long.
- If you’re adding a sleeve, make the transition from the body of the dress to the sleeve a curve.
- Cut the back & front necklines to be the same. You’ll adjust the neckline at the end.
- My template dress was more of an a-line, so I trimmed down the fabric to go straight down instead – for more of a sheath look.
- Sew the shoulders, and sides using a 1/2 inch seam allowance.
- Try the garment on. Make adjustments in the fit & mark the center point of where you want your front neckline to hit.
- Take garment off & line up seams together (basically fold the front half of the dress in half). Find your marking & cut out the neckline
- Hem the bottom, sleeves and neck as desired.
- See the above illustration for additional info
This fabric doesn’t fray so you don’t need to hem it; but I did, because I liked the look better. I’ll soon be hand-hemming the neckline to mimic the rolled woodgrain texture for a more finished look.
I love how this fabric hides everything I want concealed but shows off my curves (I know they’re little – so they need to be accentuated!). I LOVE my new dress! I think it’ll make the perfect transition into fall, too. Oh yeah, I had two yards of the woodgrain fabric (it’s $17 per yard), but it took just about a yard to make the dress. If you want a longer dress than 36 inches from the shoulder, you’ll need more yardage.
fabric courtesy of rufflefabric.com
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