I love Jungle January, hosted by Pretty Grievances. It’s now in it’s 4th year. Thanks Anne!
I’m a real enthusiast, so I decided to photograph my first dress outside at night. Hoping for some alligator eyes or a night creature.
All I got was mosquitoes. Back in the house…
Early this morning I tried this again. Much better. No alligators but no mosquitoes either. This is the New Look 6340 Easy Dress, taken to a maxi length. It’s the same pattern I used to make a couple tunics last year.
And done in a very lightweight rayon/poly/spandex ponte de roma from Girl Charlee. It’s extremely soft and comfortable, not at all hot – I think I’ll be able to wear it fall and winter down here.
I got a little surprise while sewing this. I was rockin’ and rollin’ – made the pockets and ties, ran gathering stitches around the sleeve caps, sewed the shoulder seams, and attached the facing…then turned back the facing to find this little white spot near the front neckline…
Tried to pick it off – but no, it’s not lint. It’s a misprint, and it repeats further down the dress. This is why I have permanent Micro pens!
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| Topstitching around the neckline and on the back facing. |
A few sewing notes:
- Made view D in size 12, and had just the right amount of ease for this knit fabric. I added 20″ to make it maxi length and cured the lines of the skirt from waist to hemline.
- I altered the sleeve just slightly, to get a nice elbow-length sleeve. I made it 15″ long from the shoulder notch to the unfinished bottom edge, and dropped the sleeve edges straight down from the armhole, i.e., removed the shaping.
- Inserted the sleeves flat, rather than set-in, and sewed the underarm and dress sides in one continuous seam.
- To make the ties, I cut 2″ x 31″ strips vertically with the grainline to diminish stretching.
- And turned the ties with the Dritz Quick Turn tool, and a chopstick!
Parting shot: the fellas love their Christmas gift of Hudson pants, and my son wants more in other colors. I’m so complimented!
Coco's Loft 
Thanks so much, Irene! and I love your blog 🙂
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I think you're right about a woven cotton, if done as a dress. The two tops I made were tunic length and it worked great. But this dress in ponte is my favorite of the three.
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I know what you mean – I made a bunch of scrub-type caps for Mom when she lost her hair to chemo. I think that's why I got the turners.
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Thanks so much, Ruth. I love chopsticks! great back scratcher too 🙂
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Thanks, Sue. It's fun to have something I can make for David and P. Something other than girl stuff!
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Thanks so much, Margene. I was really nervous about the fit of the fellas' pants – they live 4 hours away and I was winging it – so I was thrilled they fit!
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Thanks so much, Helen!
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thanks, Bev. Can you believe, spots! I would have let them know, except I got it on sale for $2.50/yard, and didn't want to seem whiny 🙂
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p.s. your post on your sewing addiction was great. Seems we have the same addiction!
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Thanks so much!
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Thanks, Val. Go for it!
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Thanks, Theresa. I know you make a lot of clothes and wovens for family and friends. It is nice to gift something made with someone in mind.
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thanks! and I hope you get enough cool weather in the mountains to get rid of those hateful bugs for at least a little while. Ours diminish in winter – but I know they're just on vacation.
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Hi there! Love my fellas. David plays the piano and guitar – he and I have the same copy of the Charlie Brown song, I've been helping him with the timing. It is tricky!
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Hey Coco, that is a really fun dress, but your guys are seriously stealing the show here! They are so cute together! Who is the piano player? That's not an easy piece, the Linus & Lucy. 😉
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What a wonderful dress!
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I have this pattern, interesting to see how it works on a softer fabric, I thought it might be too boxy in woven cotton. Pretty garden too!
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Flowy and lovely- I used to make scrub caps for work- the mens ties all had to be turned like your sash- wish I'd seen that toy- I used a safety pin and elbow grease?!
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So flattering a shape on you. Lovely. You are practically camouflaged against the foliage. I too use a chopstick for pushing out the corners!
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I need to make the Hudson pants for my boys. Love your new dress!
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What a fun dress. The Hudson pants look great. Curing is a term I'm also unfamiliar with, so thanks for the explanation. Enjoy your post so much!
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Love it!
Helen
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What a fun dress! Great save with fixing the white spots.
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nice job
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Your dress looks so nice that I want to make myself a jungly maxi now! BTW the boys look fabulous in their Hudson pants.
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What a nice make for jungle January and congrats on the Hudson pant love. It means so much when out loved ones love something we make for them! 🙂
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Great dress! Love the print you used and what a good save with fixing the white dots in the print! We have a lot of mosquitos here too.
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Hi! Curing lines is just redrafting them to account for some change in a pattern. A lot of people call this 'truing' the lines – I just learned it as 'curing'. I couldn't use the lines of the sides of this pattern because it is so flared, I would have ended up with a hem width of 160″ or more! So I redrew the hemline, marking out the width I wanted (20″ on the front pattern and 20″ on the back pattern, for a total hem width of 80″). And I drew a new side edge, curing or truing the line from the waist down to my new hemline mark. Make sense?
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I love the dress. One question I have of you is that you say you “cured the lines of the skirt from waist to hemline” and that is not a technique I've heard of. It is mentioned in some of your other posts so I would like to know about.
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