Jersey Maxi Dress

My Pinspiration

Given my sewing prowess on things of the accessoried nature, I knew that sewing a knit maxi dress would be super facile (please tell me you understand the sarcasm here!!!) To tell you the truth, I have no idea what made me think I could create something like the above out of a fabric that is notoriously difficult to work with (!!!! or any fabric for that matter!), but stinkin' Pinterest makes everything look SO FREAKIN' EASY that I had to give it a try. I had been keeping several jersey double sheet sets in my linen closet from house to house to house, never using them. I'm not sure if I have hording tendencies (yes, I do...), but I always thought I'd have a use for them, although I haven't had a double bed in my house since we got rid of my husband's university hand-me-down futon in 2006 (seriously...I MUST HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HORDING RIGHT????) I opened up said linen closet, pulled out my purple sheets and got ready to make something special!!!!

The pin sent me to THIS blog, where the photos lured me right in. Her skirts/dresses are so super cute, I couldn't really convince myself to NOT do it. The tutorial is called the Versa Dress, so named because this dress is two: 1) a strapless dress and 2) a maxi skirt with yoga band. The tutorial is two separate parts; one for the skirt and one for the top, and there were no specific measurements to either piece which I figured was great for me (easy for modifications, no?). In addition to the two pieces, the sewing itself seemed pretty simple, as it really was one seam along the back of each piece, to be matched up, and then sewn together. Easy peasy, right?

So, I got my stuff ready for action. I had read a couple of things about sewing knit fabric. It's a stretchy material, and doesn't always go through the sewing machine's "feed dog" easily (doesn't it sound like I know what I'm talking about??? Don't be fooled!) In addition, a lot of people wrote about sewing jersey with a zig zag stitch as to give the seam a little more movement. Now, I don't know what you think I am, but it's certainly not a professional sewer. So far, I've only used one stitch...the straight up regular ol' stinkin' stitch (that's the technical term, right?). I've never changed any settings on my sewing machine...never adjusted the tension or any such thing...Now, how the heck was I going to pull this off?

I think what saved my booty on this project was the fact that I just don't care. If it doesn't turn out, I'll grab my handy-dandy stitch ripper and try again. No harm done, right? Won't know if I can do it unless I try...

After I had ironed and cut all my pieces, I just changed the stitch selection to zig zag and I was off to the races. I had zero problem sewing the dress/skirt. I had pressed, cut and sewed the dress in an hour and a half (which is a miracle in my book), I experienced zero bunching and the material fed through with no issue at all. I made the top part of the dress super long because I figured the extra fabric would bunch enough to cover up any lumps and bumps in my body (no, no, those aren't stomach rolls, that's just the extra fabric...)My major issue, however, lied in the seam of the skirt. How could this be? It's one cut, right? Well, the issue is this...I had to measure and cut the skirt to mimic the shape of my body (ugh...the shape of my body...) I'm definitely no Marilyn Monroe. I'm more of a pot-bellied Peter Pan shape, to tell you the truth...but I still couldn't get it right. The seam is wonkier than Willy Wonka himself AND because it's right up the back of the dress, it's VERY obvious.

Needless to say, I like the versatility of the dress, though, I'm not much for strapless, myself. Perhaps when the cooler weather hits, I'll try out a sweater or cardigan over top, just like the original blog pictures show. I like the yoga banded skirt the most, because not only does it cover up the Mother Gunt I've been hanging on to, but it also sucks that pooch in a bit. It's also extremely super comfy to wear, but not as ghetto as wearing jogging pants out and about everyday...which I generally do...(although you feel like you kind of are...)And I liked the pattern so much, I took the grey jersey sheet set I had in the linen closet and made another. This time, however, I learned my lesson. I made two seams (up each side) so that my terrible sewing isn't so obvious.

What do you think?

Those aren't stomach rolls...right?

Here's the skirt. I don't wear it like this, I just pulled my shirt up a bit to show the yoga band (unsuccessfully...)

One day, I'll get my husband to take a picture of my second try, so you can check out any improvements I've made. I also have oatmeal and navy sheets that are waiting for their turn. Perhaps by the time I get to them I will have perfected this pattern!

Shout outs:
Delia Creates for the wonderful skirt tutorial (there are more tutes, recipes, etc...so check it out!)
If you like my tribute to Tom Hardy's Bane, you too can have this shirt...Order it from Etsy here. I did!