Deepika Blogs…

I made a “real” wrap dress – Stylearc Lea

Its no secret. I love Indie Patterns and I love supporting them. Unfortunately not all the styles work for everybody and my first foray into wrap dress sewing (Vogue 8379) convinced me that it wasn’t the style for me. It made me look frumpy! I gave up on this style. Until.. I made the faux wrap dress – Wren from Colette.  And that was a game changer. I Loved this dress on me! That also led me to the conclusion that its the skirt which needs to be fitted.

So when this lovely gift from Elliot Berman Fabrics arrived at my doorstep the other day, it completely brought me out of my sewing slump and I decided to make a “Real” (as in with ties and such…) Wrap Dress. And here it is!

Now based on the numerous reviews on Patternreview, I did make a few changes. But the best advice I got was from Sara Cormeny on Facebook, to add contrast ties and band. I knew I wanted to tweak the pattern anyway to add wide neckband. To use the same fabric for ties, was a brilliant idea! Thanks Sara! It breaks up the print and frames it. I absolutely love it.

The Lea Knit Wrap Dress does not come with bands, and based on what others have said, its quite low. So I added to the front and also removed some from the back neckline to account for the 2.5″ wide bands which I cut out from my silk jersey leftovers 🙂

It is still too revealing for me without a camisole! But whatever.

So this is how I added the bands. I tapered them down to the end for some added interest.

After serging them on to the neckline (while stretching the bands slightly), I folded the ends in for a clean look. The photo explains it better.

Then I simply added the ties to the end and we’re done!

Here’s a better look at the bodice on the dressform.

Yes, I know that its left over right but I was just shooting it so its ok.

I took Lea for a test drive yesterday at the PR meetup and loved walking in it. While it does not open up too much. I will feel much better if I add about 5″ to the underlap. I’ll do that and an FBA in my next version. The ties are too long as is! I will most certainly cut them down to half next time. But overall I am so pleased with my dress.