a knit polka dot dress

My mom flew down to Dallas in December to be with me during the birth of my son. We had an amazing time together and got to do a little shopping before I went into labor. We made our way over to Half Price Books and had a lovely time exploring shelf after shelf of books. We happened to come across this book. We decided to buy it (one for me, one for my mom). I went into labor a few hours later and never really got to do a whole lot with the book. Until now. You see, in fashion school I learned all about woven materials, but hardly learned a thing about how to make knits fit, so this book was really exciting for me. I decided to make one of the dresses a while ago, but never really got down to it. So when my friend Meghan came over for crafty Monday, I decided it was time. In the book, Wendy tells you how to make alterations to the pattern, so I made the basic alterations to the bodice and skirt, but I just didn't like the sleeve that was intended to go with the dress. So I took the other sleeve pattern that came with the book and spliced them together.


Next, I arranged all the pattern pieces and laid out my fabric to decide how I wanted to cut it.
I also added pockets to the skirt pattern piece because I think every dress should have pockets!


To sew the dress, I began by pinning the right sides of the bodice front and back together at the shoulders. I did this to the self fabric (the main fabric) and also the lining. Then I used my serger to sew them together.

Then I put the lining and self right sides together and stitched the neckline. I should have added elastic here, not for stretch, but to help hold the shape. (I'm still learning.)

I decided to understitch to keep the lining toward the inside of the dress.

Then I took each sleeve and ran a basting stitch from one notch to the other. I slightly gathered the fabric and then pinned the sleeve to the bodice, right sides together.


With the sleeves in place, I gathered the front and back skirt and then pinned them to the front and back bodice, right sides together. I sewed up the sides with my serger so it looked like this:

Finally, I sewed up the side seams, from the hem of the skirt, to the hem of the sleeve.
With the right sides still together, I stitched 1.5 inches from the top of the pocket toward the hem, and about 3-4 inches from the bottom of the pocket toward the bodice.

Although the dress is nearly finished...I have decided to wait to hem it with my coverstitch machine. I tried on the dress and I don't love the way it fits, so now it's time for alteration fun. I'll let you know how it goes!