Jersey Sundresses: Not One But Two

Together with the fabric for my Coco dress, I bought two more jerseys in Praha last year. After seeing that 1mx1.5m is not enough for sleeves or anything fancy, I decided to use them to make two sleeveless dresses for my summer travels. I just finished them on time to put them in my Menorca suitcase, but my camera broke in the plane just before landing, and I could not take one single picture with the dresses on in jaw-dropping beaches (<3 Menorca!)

The pattern for the dresses is a variation off my CocoDress pattern, following the instructions in Aldrich's book for the Stretch Dress on pages 166, 167. I did not make the front panels though, neither the waist shaping.

With this project and the previous one, I used the lazy ass method: I cut the fabric two cm from the paper pattern, and sewed it 2cm from the edge. I had modified the skirt to perfection with the Coco, so here it was perfect at first trial.

To sew the seams with a jersey fabric like this, I use a zigzag stitch with very very small width, it seems a straight line to the eye, but it has got elasticity. Next to this stitching line, I zigzag again with wide stitches, and cut the seam allowance just after the zigzag to imitate the overlock. Finally I press the small seam allowance to the side.

For the bottom hem, armsythes, and neck line, I simply rolled the seam allowances inwards twice (1cm each roll), pinned it and machine stitched them with the double needle. The result is perfect.