Scarf Turned Laurel Dress

This dress is my last make of 2013. I had my eyes on the Colette Laurel Dress for some time before my sister and brother in law gifted it to for my birthday (Thanks Nat and Ben!). I was ready for a quick sew at the time and I thought the simple sleeveless shift dress would do the trick and that I might even be able to wear it on Christmas day.  How wrong I was.

I chose to sew it up using a silk Country Road Scarf that was just a bit too big and bold for around my neck but had a BEAUTIFUL pattern. This was my first mistake. I knew I would need to underline the dress as the scarf was very sheer. As soon as I started cutting into the scarf, it started to fray. I was quick to underline all the pieces to prevent further fraying. I also used french seams to enclose the ratty frayed seam allowances.

When the dress was a scarf

I traced the Pattern size 4 at the shoulders and bust, grading out to an 8 waist and hips. The dress came together very quick. When I tried it on, pre zipper insertion and finishing's, I had a few fitting issues. The dress was too big from the hips down while the arm holes were a real squeeze. I also noticed that I could easily get the dress on and off without the zipper. I mentioned my struggles with this make on Instagram and read that others had had similar troubles. Abbey, from Sew Charleston, even posted a tutorial on widening the arm holes (must remember for next time!). I left it alone, not being quite the quick make I was hoping for, and didn't attempt to fix it until after Christmas.

Eventually, I took the side seams in about 1.5 cm from the waist down and for the armholes I took 1cm from the shoulders grading it out to 2cm under my arm. That's just a guess though. I was being more methodological in my trimming to begin with but sometimes hacking just works better (or, at least as well as)! I had intended on hand sewing the bias finishing and hem but wasn't as motivated after the fitting issues.  I sewed up the centre back seam leaving about 6" for a back slit to easily pop the dress over my head. but, as you can see, it gapes and I will have to remove some excess fabric from the centre back neck next time. I hemmed the dress by machine using contrasting red thread with a wide hem.

 

The final fit is a still a little loose around my hips, but I really like length and I think this scarf is much more wearable now. The fabric and the length feel just that little bit fancy, which I love. I will definitely sew up another Laurel dress and perhaps a blouse too. I would like a simple cotton summer dress and also a sleeved version for winter layering. Overall, I like Laurel very much. But, I do have a few fitting issues to keep in mind next time.