Chevron Jersey dress

At my sister-in-law's amazing workplace in the city @ Blueprint Studios

It's official! I love sewing with stretchy fabric! I whipped up this dress in just a couple of hours the other night. That's my kind of project- start when the kids go to bed, finish before midnight- perfect! To make the bodice, I just traced around the top of a dress I already own and that I know fits me perfectly. Now I have a pattern cut out in Christmas wrapping paper that I can use over and over again. The top is fully lined which gives it a neat look- no fussy hemming the neckline or armholes. It took me a while to remember how to sew the bodice and lining together so that the seams were all on the inside. Here are the steps if you're interested or just for my future reference!

1. Put front and back outer right sides together and sew side seams only

2. Do the same with the lining front and back

3. Put lining and outer fabric right sides together and sew around arm holes and neckline but leave 2 inches at the top of each strap for the shoulder seams to be sewn later

4. TURN RIGHT WAY OUT ( I didn't do this and ended up with a completely inside out bodice)

5. Join outer shoulder seams right sides together

6. Join lining shoulder seams right sides together

7. Topstitch right around bodice ensuring you close the 2 inch hole you left at the top of the straps.

VOILA! You have a neat bodice- no seams showing, ready to add a skirt.

I decided to add a waist band in the same fabric but cut in the opposite direction- glad I did as it seems to accentuate the waistline. Then I just traced a skirt in an A-line shape and sewed it on to the bodice. 

You don't need an overlocker to sew this dress. Just use a zigzag stitch on your normal machine for all seams to allow the fabric to stretch. If you use a straight stitch, it will probably break when the fabric stretches.

Just for fun- on the kids tyre swing out the back. (It was scarier than it looked!)

I bet, if you're a sew-er, you're wondering where I got this cool fabric from! Well it's from an online fabric store based in USA called Girl Charlee. It has a super range of cool knit fabrics and excellent customer service. I'm so disappointed with our choice of knit fabrics here in Australia- all the cool stuff is so expensive it's cheaper to have it shipped from overseas- crazy i know! This fabric is excellent quality- not too thin and a perfect amount of stretch. So get over to Girl Charlee and check out their range.

That's all for today. I'm off to buy school supplies for my boys. Fun, fun, fun!

Have a great day everyone.