Hello all! Today's Minerva make is quite a simple one. Now I've left school and am free of a restrictive dress code, I had to have a think about what sort of direction I wanted my wardrobe to go in. My key words were comfortable, stylish and easy to wear, which of course led me to knits. So, I'd decided that a knit dress was the way to go, but I wanted it to be a bit different. This is what I came up with.
I hacked the Deer and Doe free Plantain T-shirt into a swing dress by slashing and spreading which added volume to the side seam. It did distort the armscythe a little, but it seems to be okay when worn. I also added a fair bit of length to the hem. I did add another 2" of length when the pattern piece was pinned to the fabric because I was worried it would be a tad too short. I used the same pattern piece for the front and the back. Next time I need to raise the neckline because it's appallingly low on me. Seriously, you can see everything. The viscose knit is pretty stretchy and the weight of the dress drags it down a bit lower than it would on a more stable knit. It's just as well the shoulder ties cross over it.
I'm going to call the rectangles hanging down from the fabric shoulder ties, because I'm not quite sure what else to call them! For the shoulder ties I cut 2 rectangles 39" long and 6" wide because that's what I could get out of the leftover fabric when the main body of the dress was cut out. I just left the edges of the rectangles raw because they won't fray, and I didn't want to add bulk.
Then, the ties can be crossed at the bust and tied at the back, which also cinches in the waist nicely, creating a pleasing silhouette. They can be tacked down where they cross to keep them in place.
Lauren xx
