2-in-1 Sewalong: Wrap Dress Reveal Party!

For those of you who did the wrap dress version of Simplicity 1880 (out of print), today is your day to shine! I'm in love with my wrap version of this dress! I adore the fabric I picked and am very fond of how the silk feels against my body. Lush!



As I said yesterday, I did waistline stays for each of the dresses because of the heaviness of the skirt. This really helped a bunch, and if you too are in need of a waistline stay, Tasia has a great tutorial here. This dress was not lined in any way because really, this fabric is thick and opaque enough that it wasn't necessary.

I made the belt here and also made belt loops from serged thread (and when I say serged thread, I mean I just serged off a thread chain from my serger and treated it like regular thread) because the belt kept slipping all over the place and these babies keep that belt in place. I also tacked the wrap front in place. I really didn't want to have to do this, but I had no intention of 1) letting everyone see the goods (not that there's much to see anyway), 2) always having to worry about it and pull on it and blah blah blah, you know that code I'm sure and 3) I was not going to wear anything but a bra and underwear underneath. It's way too hot for more than one layer!



I used the cap sleeve for both versions of this dress - what can I say? It's sweltering hot here in Utah and that's all I could think about as I was doing these dresses. But I did a little something different for this dress and put the sleeve on the bias. It's a tip that Amber from Yellow Bird Fabrics gave me and it was very interesting! I love the way it gives a little more stretch to the sleeve (especially good for my broad upper back) but also keeps it a little tucked in around the arm at the hem area. You have to try this because it's kind of a neat trick!



There's one thing I don't like on both dresses here and that's how the skirt is folding on my body. I'm especially noticing it in these photos and I think the added weight of having a seam at the center front of the skirt, makes the skirt section fall a little strange. It's not that I care that there's a center front seam in the skirt, but I do feel that for this pattern for me (I'm not seeing this on everyone else's version) I need to get rid of the center front seam and cut the skirt on the fold of the fabric. In this way the skirt center front would not be hanging and dragging on a bias cut piece of cloth and causing the folds to pool to my middle. Just a thought.



This is a great dress for getting a little dressier for a date or other some such hot summer fun. I'm really loving the wrap version and seriously considering another dress from this pattern.

Who did the wrap dress? Leave links to your dresses in the comments and please don't forget to add your photos to the flickr pool if you like! Thanks again to all of you who participated in this sewalong! Really, I'm so happy with the really great feedback I've been receiving from you! You've all been absolutely FANTASTIC sports and have been so easy to sewalong with! I'm such a lucky girl! I can't wait to see your version of this dress hit the webospere!

Alright Friends! I'll be taking a short blog break next week. I'm woefully behind on various other projects, very tired and nervous about some upcoming events. And when I get kind of nervous, I don't sleep real great so I'm 0 for 2! Awwww well! I'll come back refreshed and ready to share more sewing adventures with you! Happy Summer Vacationing!

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