Meet my first ever jersey dress! I made it back in 2009 when my sewing garments bug started to first become apparent.
I was very excited when I realized my mom’s 1965 Singer had interchangeable disks that I could mount on the machine and have it stitch elastic stitches. And I was fearless enough to give jersey a try!
A friend let me flick through her Burda collection and I chose this pattern.
At the time I didn’t know I could have simply used a zig-zag stitch…I had not started reading blogs!
This is the original version on the magazine…
This is the technical drawing which in this case helps a lot!
And this is my version…I don’t even remember how I managed to make long sleeves.
The main issue I had with the dress was the neckline…and I must admit that even today that remains an issue for me…it took me this long to fix it…which is why I can only show you the pictures now.
As I sewed the jersey stretched (I didn’t know about twin needles). Pair that with a very low neckline…and you get the picture!
Recently I got the idea from Rachel to add clear elastic. On top of that I gathered the neckline a bit and tucked it under the knot.
Still not perfect but wearable.
This dress made me realize how much I have learned in the past few years. Although perfection is still far away there are a few mistakes I won’t make anymore.
When did you catch the sewing bug? Was it triggered by any event in particular?
Sewing Princess 
Oh, it looks great! And I love the fact that it’s a time capsule of your sewing history 🙂 Very on trend too, it being a maxi dress. What made me catch the sewing bug? Oddly enough, knitting! I learned to knit a year before I learned to sew. I loved the feeling of making something from nothing and the idea if making my own sweaters. Then I thought how cool it would be to make all my own clothes so I took a sewing class and the rest is history.
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This is awesome! Re clear elastic-I use the hell out of mine. Shoulders, necklines, (buttonholes on stretch fabric) everything! Love it XD
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I love that a garment you think is “wearable”, I find to be simply gorgeous! I’ve been sewing on and off since I was a child. My mother sews and knits, my grandmother sewed, knitted and crocheted. I was surrounded by it so it was second nature for me to pick it up. However its only very recently I’ve been bitten by the bug to make things really well. And that, for me, is a completely new challenge.
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Very nice! It fits you so well and the fabric is very pretty, I’m glad you could save it!
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I have seen this look in RTW and loved it. I thought it would be amazingly flattering on lots of figures. Yours turned out great. I totally know what you mean with not getting the neckline. It’s hard since they don’t offer imagines and I’m a visual learner. When I use Budra it always takes me longer to sew certain things because I have to read it and then visualize what that step is in my head.
I so wish I had that pattern. Do you think you’ll make another dress in this pattern?
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