Periwinkle Blue Knit Dress

This dress was made for my DD's career wardrobe. It looks cute worn as shown or with a turtleneck sweater underneath.

Dress photos:

Dress front with smooth belt option:

Dress back with smooth belt option:

Dress front with tie belt option:

Dress back with tie belt option:

Pattern used:

Kwik Sew 3578, View A, modified:

Materials:

Fabric: Sophia RPL doubleknit (rayon, polyester, lycra) from House of Fabrics, North Asheville, NC

Universal Size 80 needle in Elna serger, Janome coverstitch, and Bernina 1630 sewing machines

Thread:
Mettler Metrosene 100% Polyester Thread in sewing machine and coverstitch machine needles
Maxilock 100% polyester thread in serger and coverstitch machine loopers

Machines used:
Bernina 1630 computerized sewing machine
Elna 905 five thread serger
Janome 1000 Coverstitch

Methods:

The Sophia Rayon/Poly/Lycra doubleknit fabric was prewashed in warm water with small amount of detergent and dried on Permanent Press setting. No shrinkage at all.

Cut a size 8 with the following changes
Shortened the shoulder-to-waist length (just above the waist) by 1 1/2 inches
Took deeper side seams for a better fit

Clear elastic used in the seamline to stabilize shoulder seams. It was stitched with the elastic next to the presser foot on both the sewing machine and the serger. However, it fed equally as well on the serger when placed next to the feed dogs. Note that the clear elastic was applied to the seam allowance (unless otherwise noted) using a wide serpentine zig zag stitch.

Neckline and Waistline Seam construction:
Clear elastic stitched into the seam allowance of the waistline seam, as described here .
All clear elastic seam treatments were stitched at a slow speed setting.

Hem sewn with Janome coverstitch machine, stitch length 4.0.

Things I did with this project (that weren't in the pattern instructions):

I made a few design changes to the pattern:

1. Self-lined the bodice, thereby eliminating facings.
   This gave a smoother look to the bodice from two perspectives. First, when wearing the dress, the edge lines of undergarments are not visible. Secondly, it eliminated the possibility of stitch marks where a facing might tacked down.
   
2. Eliminated the neckline and armhole trim.
   I think this gave the design a more streamlined look and also eliminated bulk. It was not necessary, since I had self-lined the bodice.
   
3. Used clear elastic in seam allowances of the neckline and the dropped waist. (noted above)
   
4. Used clear elastic in seam line of the shoulder seams. (noted above)
   
5. Modified the skirt:
   I redrafted the skirt pattern pieces, making 4 angled pleats in the skirt front and 4 straight pleats in the skirt back instead the recommended gathered edge.
   
   My intent was to echo the neckline pleats in the front. To my eye, exchanging pleats for gathers simplified the overall look.
   
   I tried angled pleats in the back but I thought they emphasized the width of the keyster too much. As the dress is worn, the straight pleats sort of fan out gently over the hips anyway, so it didn't need more emphasis by purposefully angling the back pleats. The back pleats would hang straighter had I allowed more fabric in the self-drafted back pattern piece, but I wanted to keep the silhouette as narrow as possible.
   
6. Made a smooth narrower belt that fastens in the back as an option.
   I think it adds a sort of 1960s vibe to the style. (The original pattern is shown with a tie belt, which I also made.)
   
7. Stitched the hem using double needles on my coverhem machine.
   
8. Added a small self-fabric bow to the top of the keyhole back closure:
   This was a whimsical addition. I used my Fasturn tube set to make the larger tube for the bow and the teeniest tube ever for the bow center.
   
   There is a hook and eye at the top of the keyhole. The left side of the bow is tacked to the dress and the right side of the bow fastens to the dress with a snap.

Things I learned (or was reminded of) in this project:

1. Sophia RPL knit does not shrink and washes beautifully. It is really a pleasure to sew on. It is a medium weight doubleknit which would also be nice for pants.
2. The clear elastic from Hancock Fabrics was great. It has almost a powdery feel to it when I run my finger across it. Not grabby, as with other clear elastic I've used in the past. This makes it slide under my presser foot on both the serger and sewing machine with no problem.
3. Coverhem machines make the prettiest hems on knits!
   

Things I would do differently were I to repeat this project:

The dress went together so nicely and is one of my daughter's favorites in her wardrobe.

I can't think of anything that I would change, especially now that I've got the redrafted skirt pieces with the pleat markings instead of the gathers of the original design.