My First Knit Dress

Do you have one of those pieces of fabric in your stash? One that you zeroed in on at the fabric store and knew you just had to have? In reality, you bought it ages ago with the best intentions of making a fabulous ____, then stuffed it in with the rest of your fabric. You get a little twinge of guilt every time you look at it. Soon. Someday. Maybe. This is the story of the little fabric that could.

But all kidding aside, I did buy a piece of jersey knit last summer at JoAnn's that I completely fell in love with. I took three yards of it home, then prompted put it aside because, if I'm going to be honest with myself, the idea of sewing knits terrified me. I would look at it longingly, shake my head, and think, Maybe I can turn it into a swimsuit coverup. It's easy, and if it turns out looking like an overstretched tent, no one will care! Still it sat, tossed away in a corner of my fabric stash.

One year later....




Since school let out for the summer, a burst of creative confidence has come from....somewhere. I've sewn more garments in the past month than in the past few years! So, that, combined with being the proud owner of a serger as of Christmas, I finally decided to tackle The Knit.

The Women's Tank Dress from Nap Time Creations and the Melly Sews 30 Days of Sundresses were my inspiration, and I followed Emily's fantastic tutorial for sewing in the elastic.

I also used Emily's pattern, but opted out of the elastic trimming for biased tape on the neck and arms. I also added about two inches to the straps to made the sleeves a little wider. It's not quite as much of a tank top, which actually added a little formality to it.

 And now for my little secret...the dress is backward! I can only guess because of using the bias tape instead of the elastic, the neckline was a little low for my taste, and it wasn't very flattering. On a hunch, I turned the dress around, and voila: a nice high-necked, sleeveless dress with a scooped back. When I described it to her, my mom suggested adding the bow in the back, and I think it really brings the dress together! (And looks less like it's backward...)