My sewjo was a bit lacking in the New Year and I was looking to challenge myself more with my sewing this year, so I joined the 12 Patterns Plus sewing challenge run by Claire from Penguin & Pear Dressmaking over on Instagram.
I have never participated in a sewing challenge but my motto for this year is, ‘Participation over perfection’ so I decided to jump right in. The clincher was the pattern chosen for January. I reeeaaaaallllly don’t like sewing knits but I love wearing them so I regularly give a knit pattern a try to see if I can conquer this knit phobia. The Cashmerette Appleton dress had been on my list but after a few unsuccessful attempts at knit wrap dresses I had not been brave enough to try. When I saw this was the challenge pattern for January I knew I wanted in!
I had some midweight orange synthetic knit fabric with a crosswise stretch (I couldn’t tell you what it was because it wasn’t written on the clearance bolt when I bought it) but there wasn’t quite enough for the entire dress. I went out to look for an alternative but came across a spandex stripe that I thought might work with the orange I had at home. I got lucky!
I think it works and I do like that it is still a solid colour from the back.
This was the first Cashmerette pattern I had sewn and I loved it! I still don’t like sewing knits but the sewalong on the Cashmerette site includes lots of photos and some video for the trickier steps. The written instructions were fine for most of the dress but they did confuse me when attaching the neck/waistband tie to the dress. If they had mentioned in the written pattern instructions that the tie you were attaching was going to be a very different length to the dress edges (like they did online) it would have saved me some confusion.
The rest of the sew went very smoothly and was a breeze to put together. I made the size that matched my hip measurement and even though I should have made a smaller size for my bust I made the same size for my hips to allow more coverage for the cross over at the wrap front. This makes the dress a little bunchy on my waist at the back but I prefer it that way than being super tight.
The only adjustment I made to the entire pattern was to add 10cm length for my 180cm height. I am really blown away by how well the pieces fit my body. The sleeves are so comfortable, no pulling under your arm. The neckline sits beautifully flat and there is just the right amount of overlap at the front. Finally wrap dress success!