Party Dress Numero Uno

It's finished and I wore it last night. I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out. This is a great pattern and I can't believe it doesn't have 50 reviews on Pattern Review. I found it shearly by accident. I was trying to figure out what to make and was perusing through the old Burda's I have. I need to pick up some more back issues. Anyway, this dress jumped out at me from the page because it was made out of metallic jersey, which is the exact fabric I was looking at making the dress out of. There were only two reviews on PR for it but both were good. So I made a practice version. I knew I would like the style and pretty much figured it would be flattering so the one I made was out of some nice fabric from a new to me ebay seller, High End Fabrics. This is some of the European Viscose fabric. This print is gone I think but the fabric was wonderful!

This isn't hemmed yet since I put it aside to work on the party dress. I didn't have enough fabric for the inside bodice piece so it is some grey poly. However, I think I laid out the pattern wrong. When I laid it out on the party dress fabric I didn't have enough either, but when I went back to the picture of the layout and actually followed the instructions, I had enough. I SMART! It really didn't matter though because you can't even see the inside bodice at all in the finished dress.



You can see here how it pulls a bit on the sides. This is why I added a little to the drapes. My party version did this too though, but not quite as badly. The other reviews mentioned something about this too. The dress is pulled together at the waist and over the bust by the drapes so I think this is just a bit inherent in the design.


Edited to add a picture of me in the print dress. I finished up the hems on it tonight. I see this as a major go to dress. I can see me wearing it a ton! It's that great combination of feeling like you're wearing jammies, being stylish and flattering all at the same time. A win-win dress!

I find I don't photograph well in prints. I'm pretty unphotogenic to begin with though. Despite the photos, this dress is probably more flattering in person than the party dress is in my opinion.



For the party dress version I did a bit of an FBA on this which amounted only to adding 1/2 inch to the drapes. The bodice underneath is plenty large enough without any additions. My party version is fully lined with either a nude color poly (at the bodice) or power mesh. The fabric was very thin and while I don't think it is see through, I think the lining makes it lay a lot nicer. If you hang the dress on a hanger, the front pulls the sides forward. Even though this looks like it should be wrong, it's not. It's the design of the dress. But as I said, I did add 1/2 inch to the drape side for myself as an FBA. You also might need to fiddle with how they lay. The first version I didn't have any bulging out of the drape, probably because it was tight. On the second version, the spot where the top of the drape attaches to the side bulged out a smide. This is the side where the drape is on top. The other side, the drape is buried underneath the other drape. I just pulled the edge a little tighter before basting down the sides.

Now for the party dress. Sadly, these pictures don't do this fabric justice. And these pictures were taken at 11 at night after the party. No wrinkles, stretching, etc! It's from EmmaOneSock and is the most gorgeous cream/gold metallic jersey. It's soft and yummy! It was a big seller on her website a year or so ago. I missed the first batch but then she got some more in and I grabbed it. It's been aging in the stash for awhile for the perfect thing to make with it. I was considering a shirt like the Jalie tie front top but then thought about a party dress out of it. I think she actually as some more on her website now.

I'm pretty sure this is the same fabric.

Metallic Jersey









Some interior shots.