A great success in cotton jersey! I have a lot of clothes for the fair; many I made myself, some pieces I’ve purchased, but even in the depths of my vast collection I was lacking a neutral knee-length base layer that could also be worn alone. You know, something for layering a multitude of frippery on-top but which is still presentable when all the finery is stripped. In comes this super-soft dark gray cotton jersey. It’s ultra thin but still opaque and it wanted to be made into garments. I’ve done a few things with the fabric like sew this wrap sweater, and I also decided to make myself this effortless faire garment.
I really can’t stress how happy I am with how this dress turned out. I patterned it myself off of a shirt that I already owned in a similar fabric. The goal here was to make the whole design incredibly simple and have the dress finished in one afternoon, which was easily achieved! The front of the dress was cut on the fold with a scoop neck and an uneven hem. The back was patterned in two separate pieces so that I could give the skirt more volume in the rear. Lastly the sleeves are only cap sleeves: they don’t even go around the whole arm opening so they were a snap to put on before stitching up the side seams. The easiest way to put on a sleeve, for those of you that don’t know, is to sew the shoulder seams, then attach the flat sleeve to the spread-flat garment, then sew up the side seam and sleeve under-seam all in one go. This makes lining everything up so much easier and it ensures that your under-arm seams all line-up perfectly.
To finish the dress I used the rolled hem function on my surger to encase the ends in thread. I stretched the fabric as I surged and had the machine set to the widest stretch as well. This produces a ruffle-effect on the jersey that is quite whimsical and a little more exciting than a plain edge. I skipped any sort of embroidery or trim on this piece because I really do want it to be a base layer that will go with a lot of different colored costumes. Introducing trim would limit the number of combinations I could pair this piece with.
I think what I’m most excited for is wearing this dress out to dinner after the fair, as we usually do, but still looking very cute instead of my usual chemise and leggings that don’t quite make an outfit on their own.
