• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Studio Alexandra

  • ABOUT
  • Wardrobe
  • Home
  • Triumph
  • Wardrobe essentials
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

You are here: Home / Wardrobe / Another maxi dress

Another maxi dress

August 3, 2013 by Alexandra - 8 Comments

I really like the floaty nature of my rectangle maxi dress and wanted to try it again, this time with tank top styling above the waist and narrower throughout.

View 4View 1

Pattern details
I used the front and back pieces of my T-shirt dress pattern to get the proportions right and the bust dart in the right place. I widened the pieces at the bottom of the armhole to 20″ and cut straight down from there (no extra for seam allowances), adding 19″ to the length (for 57″ finished length from the shoulder, and 1½” hem allowance).

I made the neckline slightly deeper and wider, and cut in the armholes. At this point, I was winging it, just drawing the curves directly on the fabric, using one of my curved rulers.

Side 2View back

Fabric
I used my other piece of rayon challis, also from Fabric Mart. Having learned from the previous project, I minimized the shiftiness of the fabric by using fusible tape around the armholes and neckline before cutting them. Leopard print – you never thought you’d see me in that, did you?

Notes
I made the slit longer this time. I tried on the half-finished dress, with both side seams sewn all the way down, and put a pin at the kneecap. Then I ripped out the stitching and tried it on again… perfect! Plenty of room for movement, no thigh flash.
Slit 2

I didn’t know how I was going to finish the neckline and armholes when I started the project. It took consulting my sewing books to settle on a bias strip finish. It was surprisingly easy – I think because the fusible tape stabilized the edges. And I like how it turned out.
Closeup finish

Summary
Another comfy summer dress. I think I’m set for summer heat now. Probably should have thought of this at the beginning of the summer but better late than never.

Filed Under: Wardrobe

You might also like

Another maxi dress

Dress with decorative seams

Relaxed fit jeans

Previous Post: « Rectangle maxi dress
Next Post: Wardrobe essentials: second layer tops »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lulu

    August 3, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    Tak toto sa podarilo fakt výborne, čapkám Ti!

    Reply
  2. Sheila Cdd

    August 3, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    Great dress, looks super comfy. Like the bindings on neck and armholes, give a clean edge that is cool. Great drafting.

    Reply
  3. Carolyn

    August 3, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    I really like this on you! I’m so glad that I’ve inspired you to make a couple of these cause they really are comfortable to wear!

    Reply
  4. Mary Beth

    August 3, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    Yes, good choices. Looks great! Lime green scarf?

    Reply
  5. June

    August 4, 2013 at 6:37 am

    I wouldn’t have guessed that this was improvised – it looks very well executed and fine tuned. Nice dress!

    Reply
  6. Rhonda

    August 4, 2013 at 4:19 pm

    Fabulous and such a great print.

    Reply
  7. Sandra

    August 7, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Alexandra, You look lovely in your new maxi dress. Love the print and the whole look. You wrote: “I minimized the shiftiness of the fabric by using fusible tape around the armholes and neckline before cutting them.” When you have time, would you please clarify this for me? Where do you put the fusible tape — on the inside of the cutting line, on the seamline, outside the cutting line? And is it the kind that you just press on with your fingers or do you need to press it with an iron? Oops, I might be overthinking this — it’s just that I’ve never seen this idea before, and I have a couple of fabrics that I could use this technique on. Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Kay Long

    August 11, 2013 at 4:08 am

    Beautiful dress! Love the material.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.

56,724 Spambots Blocked by Simple Comments

Primary Sidebar

I’m Alexandra; Alex for short. I streamline and right-size everything from wardrobe to social commitments in order to craft a peaceful happy life. I’m always working on a sewing or polymer project and have recently bought my first cutting machine. Follow along on my adventures and let me know what you think.

Copyright © 2021 STUDIO ALEXANDRA ·