Chunky Rib Charcoal Grey Dress

An easy to wear casual jersey dress is a project that I've had at the back of my mind for some time. Not the kind of project that I wanted to make immediately, more the kind of project that was waiting to be made when the perfect fabric was discovered. When I did come across this fabric, I knew immediately that it was the right one to make this dress out of and I'm so happy I waited for the right fabric rather than trying to look for it because it really is perfect! To make this dress, I used this charcoal grey chunky rib fabric from Like Sew Amazing. The photo of the fabric on their website is somewhat underwhelming, but in real life it has a gorgeous texture to it and despite being a dark colour is a really nice shade of grey. It isn't like any fabric I've sewn with before either - it's super stretchy like a normal rib is, but it's also really chunky. I'd compare it to a stretchy version of chunky needlecord, if you're able to picture that! It also looks strangely similar to carpet samples...

Despite the intrigue of the fabric it was a joy to sew with. Sewing with knits has become so much easier now that I have my overlocker! This was a super quick make as well, I love it when a garment comes together quickly. I decided to self-draft the pattern. It's pretty much the same as the one I used for my black top only I descended it into a dress. For the dress shape I used the Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress to determine where it should go in at the waist etc, but I minimised the A-line shape quite by quite a lot. As you can see by my previous version the Coco has got a striking A-line shape common with quite a few Tilly and the Buttons patterns. Personally, I'm not a fan of the shape and I much prefer the way this dress comes in rather than out.

Although not visible in the photos the neckline has got a neckband around it. I really love the look of neckbands (although I love sewing them slightly less!) I just find that on jersey they give a cleaner and more professional finish to a bias bound neckline or simply turning the fabric under and topstitching it.

I'm so pleased with this dress. I had quite a strong view of what it should look like in my mind and often the finished garment can be not quite right when you have a strong opinion to begin with, but with this dress it came out exactly how I pictured it and I love that. I expect it will be a long time until I can wear it without tights again but hopefully I'll be able to wear it thoughout the colder months too with layering.