Plaid Placket Dress

I've wanted to make a full-length t-shirt dress for quite a while now. However, since I started sewing in earnest I've always been nursing, pregnant, or both... and a dress like that isn't particularly awesome for those situations! I finally made one anyway, and made it work for nursing by adding a placket in the front.

  I used some super-soft, rather thin, and quite stretchy plaid that was in the KnitFix I bought last December. (This plaid is also one of the fabrics for this month.) Of course, that made a basic design more complicated because I had to try to match the plaid! I managed to get the horizontal lines matched up beautifully, but I completely forgot to try to line up the vertical lines along the side seams until it was too late. I also matched up two horizontal lines with the sleeve on the front bodice but couldn't make it work in the back.

  I used my basic tee pattern with some modifications to make matching the plaid under the arm a little easier, added a placket from some lightly interfaced black knit following this tutorial (only I altered the measurements to fit the dress better and pressed everything with an iron) and added bow cuffs to the sleeves.

  The placket turned out pretty great, especially since everything kept trying to shift under the presser foot. I planned on using KAM snaps for this, but the only ones I have that work well with this fabric are white hearts, which seem a little too youthful for this style. I ended up using some heavy-duty metal snaps that I had on hand... they are overkill for this fabric but since it's interfaced on the placket I don't think they will cause any problems there. The one on the neckband might though... I didn't interface there.

  Having made this dress, I probably would not make another in this style.

  I do like this dress, but it's not nearly as flattering as a style with a more defined waist would be.

  I added a knit belt with a flower... I wish I'd had some wide elastic to stabilize the belt, but it still turned out pretty cute. =)

  The hem is lettuce-edged as usual. I have another dress in the works too, with a different fabric from the same KnitFix bag... it's all cut out but I haven't started actually sewing it yet.

  Thanks for stopping by,