Aloha and New Look 6184 dress in knit fabric

Aloha from paradise. Let's jump ahead, shall we? By that I mean posting an item out of order. My self imposed order. I almost always blog things in the sequence I sew them, thus imposing a bit of order on myself and discipline to finish things and then blog. That helps me to complete something, stay motivated to take photos and then onward to the next thing. However I have a few longer posts in the works. My denim jacket (final version) and a Marfy pattern so here is a something else entirely.

The fabric is a rayon knit in a slighly tie-dye-ish pattern of turquoise and white. My favorite color combo and oh so soft. I bought 1 and 1/8 yards at Stone Mountain in Berkeley intending to make a t-shirt or some type of top but every time I looked at it I thought "easy breezy summer dress" so that is what I did. 

I used New Look 6184 for the neckline and and bodice but I left out the back waist darts, added about 1 inch at the side seam waist on the front and also created a square neckline in the back (which I see could have been maybe another inch or two deeper.  For the skirt I just cut two squares that added up to about 4 inches larger than my hip measure and gathered the top of the skirt into the waist of the bodice pieces. I think I also lengthened the bodice about 1 inch front and back as I wanted it to be a tiny bit blousey at the waist, kind of Saltspring-y, if you have seen the new pattern from Sewaholic. It is funny that came out as I have two vintage patterns from the 70's I had been contemplating making this summer and never got around to them, both with that waist blousing that is so nice to wear and flattering if the proportions are right. 

Dress front close up. I really like this pleated front neckline and have been searching for just the right version for a while.  You can see the color is nice and saturated, the light in the outdoor photos washed out the color of the dress slightly. (Hard to compete with that nice tropical background :)

Ever since I made a few Vogue designer patterns specifically made for knit fabrics that were fully lined I really like the effect and feeling a full lining creates so this one is also fully lined. Which also gave me the opportunity to have the clean finish around the neckline and armholes. No zipper, not needed. A reader asked recently about what lining I use in these knit dresses. In the dancewear section at my local Joann fabrics (where the fabrics for making costumes, skating and gymnastics wear, swimwear etc) there are some knit fabrics in neutral colors which are used for linings in those items and work very well for any knit dress. I just feel the weight and slippy-ness of the lining fabric, to me that is the key factor, if the lining will glide against the outer fabric and not be catching as you move or walk. 

I also added tiny belt loops at the side and with the remaining shreds of fabric made a narrow fabric tie belt to pull in the waist as the dress is cut rather straight and needs something to create the waist and blousing. 

Here is the pattern, I used the Version D which is the square cut neckline. 

OK time to hit the beach for a tough day of swimming and novel reading :) and a Mai Tai calling my name later.  

Happy September sewing, Beth

p.s. did anyone notice I cut my hair? heading toward long hair is just not for me! I gave it a good year but that was enough. Oh, I am so happy now!