Seamwork Lyle

Today is May 1st which means that Seamwork Magazine is releasing 2 more patterns to their collection. It's also the beginning of a little thing known as Me-Made-May! What will be your pledge for the month of May? Funny fact- I've never officially participated in Me Made May. I love the concept but it's a lot of work to take pictures and create posts! I haven't been able to commit yet. Maybe this year will be the year. 

In March, I learned I was selected to be a Seamwork ambassador! I am really excited to be a part of the team. In exchange for a complimentary membership for one year, I have agreed to sew at least 10 patterns. Reviews and opinions are my own. In fact, they welcome my constructive feedback. One of the perks is that I get to view the upcoming patterns ahead of the release date. That's why I was able to get a head start on this. 

This dress is the Lyle pattern by Seamwork, one of the two patterns released this month. It is a maxi-length dress featuring a boatneck and curved hem. It is made for knit fabrics. 

I used a geometric navy and white ITY print from SAS Fabrics, a fabric mecca in Arizona. It's been in my stash for several months. An ITY jersey is lightweight and breathable. It has a lovely drape. 

I cut a size 14 according to my measurements. I shortened the dress by 3 inches for more of a midi-length. I carry my extra weight in my abdomen. I wanted the dress to skim my midsection, not cling to it, so I added some width in the side seams. I added 1/2 inch to each side seam, for a total of 2 inches extra around the midsection. If you have a slimmer abdomen compared to the rest of your body, you can probably get away without doing this. 

I used my serger and coverstitch machine to sew this together. It took me about 2 hours total. 

Hemming knits on a machine can be fiddly, even with a coverstitch. One thing I've always done to improve the look of my hems on knit pieces is to stabilize the hem with strips of interfacing. I did this even when all I had was a standard straight stitch machine. I really like this product from SewKeysE. This is the extremely fine fusible stay tape. I use it to stabilize hems, shoulder seams and zipper insertion areas. I used the 5/8 inch width for this dress, but it comes in thicker widths for different projects. It stabilizes the hem and makes it much easier to stitch. 

I sewed a matching fabric tie to add some definition to my high waist. I simply cut a 6 inch strip, the length of my fabric. I folded it in half, stitched it together with a 1/4" seam allowance and left an opening to turn. 

This was fast and easy and I really like the finished look. I live in the Phoenix area and it is already sweltering hot. This is the perfect dress to throw on to look put together while staying comfortable. 

~Jenny