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!
It’s gorgeous! I love the low back neckline.
Thanks
Gorgeous dress, the colour is beautiful and I love the neckline. I’m very nervous about attempting velvet but it looks so lovely to wear.
Thank you. This was a very easy project, but I think that’s because the pattern was so simple and the velvet has some stretch. I definitely wouldn’t be put off if you wanted to have a go!
A perfect Christmas dress!
Thanks
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
WONDERFUL ANYTIME—SO GORGEOUS!
Lovely make! Always love a low back – very ballerina. And great colour too!
The other option for a bodice like this is to completely line the bodice in a light weight fabric with a similar stretch. You can just attach the sleeves and skirt to both layers. I can totally understand why you wouldn’t want to bind or similar. That lovely clean neckline is perfect.
Ah thank you. And thanks for the tips! I did think of a bodice lining, but I didn’t have time to buy any lightweight fabric and thought I’d be a bit hot in a double layer of this. Good idea for next time though!