My Very Stripey Black And White Stripe Dress

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This stripe dress was the first piece of clothing that I made entirely in under two weeks. (Yes I’m a slow sewer and becoming a sewing blogger didn’t change that.) It was also the first thing I made using my dress form. I based this striped dress off a piece of fabric.

The Fabric I Used

I used a thick black and white stripe knit. I had only one piece which I was worry that it wasn’t big enough. Since the skirt would use the most fabric, I cut it out first. After cutting out the skirt, I cut the remainder of the fabric into 3 strips and a rectangle with a few scraps.

 

Coming Up With The Design

Once I had the fabric cut I just played with it on my dress form. I drape 4 different tops taking pictures of each one. Looking at the pictures, I knew which design I prefer the only problem was I hadn’t managed to make a back on that design. I then played with the design until the back was covered. Now I did had a design to work off, but I had no idea I how to sew my stripe dress. To make things easier, I decide to sew it all onto a base layer.

Sewing The Top Of My Stripe Dress

I had some cheap white knit, so I trace a tank top and use it as the pattern for the base layer of my stripe dress. Once I had that I could start sewing the stripes together.The first thing I sewed was the square piece of fabric on the top front. This piece of my fabric would provide a normal neckline and make sure I had straps. After I had the first piece, I just sewed the others strips on at an angle.

 

In between sewing each piece I would put the top back on the dress form and pin the piece in place. I made sure to pin it so there would be enough fabric to go around the back. Once I had it pin, I would flip it up and draw a line along the bottom of it. I then would make two notches on both pieces so was I took it off the dress form I could match it up again. Then I took it off the dress form, match up the lines and pin it in place. When it was pinned for the second time, I could sew it in place. This process would then repeat.

The back was harder than the front as I didn’t know what I wanted. I ended up basing my design off a strip that cuts across the centre. I had planned to have a strip of fabric wrapping around the top where it met the skirt. So after deciding on those two pieces, it was easy to fill in the rest.

Attaching The Skirt Of My Stripe Dress

At first, I gather the skirt and attach it to the top. It looked awful. It wasn’t gathered enough, so there were flat spots and fit was awkward. I show it to my mum, and she noticed a  tiny little pleat that I made by accident and suggested pleating it instead of gathering.So, I took it apart and pleated the skirt on the sides. I like that look, so I hemmed it with a twin needle. It turns out nice, and you can barely see the stitches because they are on top of a black stripe.

Finishing The Neckline Of My Stripe Dress

After hemming it, all I had to do was finish the neckline and armholes. This part was extremely frustrating. I ended up stitch picking the neckline twice, and even now it’s not flat. If anyone knows how to make a flat knit neckline, I would love to know. The armholes were easier as I just copy the neckline. The inside of my stripe dress is a mess. It has lots of seams and stitches and messing up the neckline didn’t help with keeping it neat.

 

I do like the garment and can see myself wearing it lots this summer and into fall. If I did it again, there are things I would do differently like have the pleats pointing the right way. And maybe using a thinner bias binding as to not add too much bulk. Have you ever created something that you made up as you went along?