New Look 6298: the sweater dress

After  a couple of posts of dresses for work, this week I made a more casual comfy dress for leisure times.

I rather liked the look of New Look 6298, a simple, comfy dress which could be warm and cosy with tights and boots and generally I think it is just that.  I saw this fabric and thought the two would be a marriage made in heaven, however, when the fabric arrived it was disappointing.  The back is a very "nylony" black fabric which is not warm and cosy and would be appalling if you had any occasion to sweat, the black back can also fray and is a little prone to separating from the front!   Also it really doesn't press at all, even with the use of a clapper.   That's the problem of on-line purchasing, though I must say I am usually delighted with my purchases from Dragonfly Fabrics.   However, I had the fabric and rather than stick it straight in the charity shop pile I thought I would make it up as a bit of a wearable muslin.

And it definitely is wearable, infact I had already worn it before these photographs and will some more wear in the future.

The shape is very straightforward but I think it has quite a nice line, though I cut my usual size 14 and I could definitely go down a size in future.  I think you can particularly see this from the back.

The sleeves are raglan which I like with a dart in the shoulder (which did make a very thick seam with this fabric as you are inserting a sleeve with 4 layers of fabric at the dart).    I like the pockets and the way they fit into the side seams, but once again this did make it very thick with three layers of fabric and four at the top of the pocket.

The V-neck went OK on my second attempt.  I don't know whether it was my fault but I did the  stitching at my usual seam allowance of 5/8" and duly snipped right down to the stitching at the V, only to realise that the seam allowance attaching the band is 3/8" and I ended up with a big hole.  There followed (some cursing .... some wine .... some sulking)  and no stitching until the next day when I did some jiggery pokery and it seems to have worked out OK.  The band is a little fiddly if you are a beginner, otherwise this is a pretty straightforward and speedy sew.

I originally cut the longer length, but then thought it looked rather dowdy and so took 2 1/2" of the longer length, which I think balances better.  I do like how it looks with my Seamwork Oslo cardigan and then it is really warm!

I might have another go at this in the future; a smaller size and in something really posh like a merino or cashmere if I can find the right fabric (not buying that without a sample though!). 

I was actually struggling with sunlight in the photos and I've had a few lovely works (and the dogs have had haircuts!).

On a sad note, it was a real shame to hear of the death of Lorna from the Great British Sewing Bee series 3.  She was a real character and I loved some many of her sews, in fact I absolutely copied her lovely dress from the first episode.