Swing Dress

Let’s get into it! First, I’ve said it before but it’s worth mentioning again. I am a big fan of knit fabric. So, this time I chose Minerva Core Range Heavy ITY Silky Stretch Knit in Blush Pink. The difference between this heavy ITY and a regular ITY is in the name - heavy. Regular ITY is lightweight and doesn’t pull, but still has a nice drape. Heavy ITY drapes well and has the tendency to pull towards the ground. I love the blush pink color; however, it was a little see through. I had to wear a camisole so my undergarments would not show through. I used a rotary cutter to cut my fabric/pattern.

The dress

I made my self-drafted swing dress and added a few changes to my original pattern. I added a sleeve on one side (the left side) from Vogue 1700 and inserted piping at the shoulder and the elbow. I didn’t have enough fabric for two sleeves, so I made a statement piece. I added a contrast color piping to the front right side of the dress. This was done to mimic the colorblocking in Simplicity 9886. Instead of colorblocking, I used the piping to simulate colorblocking. I also did not hem the bottom of the dress. Since knit does not fray, you can leave the hem raw. 

I like the fit of the dress; however, because the knit is heavy, the shoulder with the sleeve was pulling a little. I used clear elastic in the shoulder seams to keep the dress from stretching out of shape. Using clear elastic in the shoulder seams is a good practice when working with knit fabric. The elastic helps keep the shape of the garment and shoulders. I serged all the seams to keep the threads from popping. When sewing with knit, you should use a zig zag stitch, a serger, or a stretch stitch to keep your threads from popping when the knit fabric stretches. 

Mistakes I made

I didn’t make sure I had enough fabric before I started cutting my pattern pieces. So I had to get creative when cutting out the other pieces. I cut the pieces out on different grainlines which caused the dress to look two toned. But I made it work and you really can’t tell unless you look closely. 

Sometimes it’s difficult to determine the right and wrong side with knit because both sides look similar. So you need to be careful and make sure whatever side you use, that you continue to use that side for the entire garment. You can also look at the selvage to see the holes to determine the right side. 

This dress is versatile. I can wear it alone with boots, sandals, or tennis shoes. Or I can layer it with pants or a skirt. This fabric would be great for making pants, a skirt, a dress, or a top. 

I hope  you enjoy the pics.