The Unhemmed Dress (Colette Wren/Colette 1033)

The Unhemmed Dress (Colette Wren/Colette 1033)

BLAH
BLAH

I know I’ve been pretty vocal about it lately, but I’ll say it again, I fucking hate knits. I know I know, everyone loves them, and I get it, they’re comfy and they sew up quickly. I just can’t get on board. I tried, I made this knit dress several times. The times I made it in a woven were my favorite. I hate how knits “grow”, I hate they just flop everywhere with no structure. Ponte has structure, you say. I know, and if I must sew a knit, I prefer to use ponte. For this dress, I didn’t. For this dress, I made the worst fabric choice.

My true feelings on this dress.
My true feelings on this dress.

I got this lovely floral fabric from Girl Charlee during their big Christmastime sale. When Colette came out with the Wren pattern, I immediately thought of that floral fabric sitting in my stash. I love the vintage summertime feel of the fabric, and the pattern did call light to medium weight jersey with a nice drape! Perfect, right!?!? NO!

Not doing much for my shape, here.
Not doing much for my shape, here.

This fabric is WAY too lightweight for this dress. The skirt is just weighing the bodice down and and creating a shapeless mess. My measurements sit comfortably between the small and medium sizes, but I went ahead and cut the small. Should be a bit snug, right? NO! Not with 45% stretch. To make things just a bit more annoying, the white underside of the fabric shows through when stretched. UGH! I did try on the bodice before attaching it to the skirt, I basted the front bodice sections together where I wanted them. All seemed well!!! Added the skirt and everything went to shit. At this point, I decided not to even hem the sleeves or skirt. I was so frustrated, I couldn’t justify wasting more time here.

Is it better from the side?  Nope, not at all.
Is it better from the side? Nope, not at all.

At this point I should point out that the problem here wasn’t the pattern, but my terrible terrible fucking fabric choice. I should also admit, I skipped the waist elastic. Perhaps if I’d used that, this dress wouldn’t be such a tragedy? I doubt it, but it is possible. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll make it in a better fabric and my opinion of knits will change entirely, I have seen some really cute versions of this dress out there.

Catelyn is the only thing saving this picture.
Catelyn is the only thing saving this picture.

I thought about not posting this dress, because it is such a fail. But…I’m human and sometimes my sewing just comes out awful. Why pretend like it doesn’t? I’ve learned things, like to stay far away from lightweight, super stretchy knits. I still wore it around the house yesterday, it’s comfortable enough to wear, as long as no one sees me. So it’s not a total waste! That said…I’m still treating myself to a woven project next. With no stretch! Happy sewing 🙂

8 thoughts on “The Unhemmed Dress (Colette Wren/Colette 1033)

  1. I had a similar result from a knit dress last year, and I saved it by sewing FOE along the waist seam after it was done. I stretched the heck out of the FOE, and it worked really well. Maybe that could help?

  2. Ok, I don’t see what you’re complaining about here. It just looks like the waistline is too low for you, is that because it’s being pulled down? Elastic may help it stay where it’s supposed to be.

    If you hate it, then hate it and move on.

    1. Yeah, it’s pulled way down from where it originally sat, past my natural waist.

      Like I said in the post, it’s fine to wear around the house. Probably a fine pattern, just not in this fabric.

  3. I wonder if you could put some belt loops on it and wear it with a belt. Maybe that would help support the weight of the skirt? That said, it actually looks great to me; I’m not seeing the problem at all. I hope you’re happier with your next project, though.

  4. I would put at least 1/2″ elastic in the waistband, stretch it out a lot and it will be a massive help! I bet it goes from only-wearing-in-the-house to public wearing. I know what you mean about the stretch too, too much will do that. Last year’s maxi sewalong dress was like that for me. You need to pick a knit project and use ponte, then you’ll feel better!!!

    1. I might do that. It has WAY too much stretch for this project. Ahhh I know I do, but I’m making AT LEAST two woven dresses before then lol

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