Red Velvet Dress

Slightly belated, but here are the picture of the ‘Christmas dress’ I made this year. I don’t usually follow trends, but I kept seeing gorgeous velvet dresses everywhere and couldn’t get them out of my mind, so I went ahead and made one myself.

After making my last Plantain dress, there were a few adjustments that I felt would improve the fit. I used this dress to put these to the test.

As you can see I completely altered the neckline at the front and the back. I used my french curve to redraw a scooped back, just making sure it didn’t come down lower than  my bra.

For the front, I traced the neckline of an existing t-shirt I like (this one actually). If I made it again, I’d lower the front neckline by 1/2 an inch as I don’t like things too high on my neck. It makes me feel a bit claustrophobic, but other than that I’d say this was a winner.

I also took the top in at the waist.

Then I just added a circle skirt and hemmed that with my overlocker as I didn’t want it to be too bulky.

 

Rather unusually for me, I finished the neckline with a facing. I tested out some other methods on some scraps, but I didn’t like the bulk that extra stitching added. I think a dress this simple looks much better with clean lines. The reason I usually hate facings is because they never stay put, but this time I followed some great tips from What Katie Sews and I love the results. I did put a few tiny catch stitches in the back as the neckline dips so low, but other than that, it completely stays in place by itself.

The fabric is a stretch velvet-like fabric, which is soooo soft and drapey. I love the colour. It felt really festive without being over the top so I was actually able to dress it up with heels for our staff do and also wear it with flats (aka tights) for our friends’ Christmas meal.

Very versatile!