20 October 2012

Nautical Knit Dress



Ooooooh!!! This dress is just so snuggly, I don't think I'm ever going to take it off!







It's made in a cosy double knit scored for £2 from Simply Fabrics in Brixton. The pattern is based on a combination of two dresses in Sew U Home Stretch, with a few changes. For example I added (high) waistline darts in the front bodice to give it a bit more shape as the fabric has relatively little stretch for a knit, and raised the back bodice waistline to balance out front and back. I also experimented with the sleeve caps to create a natty pleat instead of gathering, an effect I've been thinking of trying for a while. The little triangle shoulders look pretty sharp in stripes, non?



I find it so tempting as a stitcher to attach colourful details, and originally I intended to add red or mustard yellow buttons at the shoulders (a bit like on my hand-painted Breton top). However I resisted temptation and left the dress as more of a blank slate to be teamed with different coloured necklaces and tights (it looks awesome with red, navy, teal, dusty pink, yellow, grey... should I stop now?).

Would you judge me if I wore this every day?!

[Soundtrack:'Didn't It Rain' by Sister Rosetta Tharpe]