Made by a Fabricista: Ottobre Halston Nail Print Dress.

Long time no see, fellow sewing friends!  I have been wearing many hats lately, student, teacher, mother, swim coach, so much so that I haven't had much time for any sewing.  I spent so much energy on my last make (that red coat), I figured if I delayed my next post by a bit, everyone would understand. ;-)

I really love this month's make.  I usually have a very strong idea of what fabric I want to work with and then I find a pattern, but this time, it was reversed.  I had the 05-2015 Ottobre sewing magazine in my library, and I really was digging the Twig Dress (#1).  I had seen it on Ann (a fellow fabricista) and so I knew how cute it could be, but I really wasn't sure from what fabric I should make it. 

As is usual for me, though, I did my daily digging at the Fabric Mart site (I am addicted!), and in the new arrivals was this glorious medium weight Halston printed knit fabric with a nail print.  I really dig abstract prints, and I like that from far away it looks like ice or broken glass, but upon close inspection, you can see that it is a digital print of many nails spilled on a surface.  The minty blue-green, grey, and white coloring was also very appealing to me, so I told Fabric Mart to send me some of that to make the Twig Dress! 

Above, on the left, is the Twig Dress.  As you can see it is quite short on the model, who is my height, btw.  I did have to lengthen mine by 2.5 inches, and I took up the barest amount on the hem.  I do know I could wear it with leggings to school, but I often want to wear tights or bare legs, so I prefer to lengthen it for versatility. 

I hadn't realized I had used the other sleeve length rather than the 3/4 length one on the Twig Dress (there were two lengths), but I am glad I did.  I lengthened that one by 5/8" and after hemming, the length of the longer sleeve is hitting exactly where it should.

Here is a super close up of the nail print.  It is utterly fascinating to look at.  The composition of the fabric is not like your typical knits.  It is like a double knit, so it lays nice and flat, and while it has a bit of stretch on the cross-grain, it has none with the selvedge.  It is called a poly crepe interlock, and unfortunately this particular fabric is sold out.  There are a few yards left of the nail print silk chiffon, though, here and here.

While looking for more information on this print, I spied this photo on Pinterest.  Look!  It appears to be the same fabric done up in a similar way.  (Well, mine is more a-line, but still!  Always exciting!)

Onto Ottobre...it appears that they are sized similar to Burda, so I went ahead and cut a size 38 at the shoulders, bust, arms, and waist, and graded to a 40/42 at my upper hip and lower hip/hem.  I probably could have gotten away with staying 38/40 or a straight 38.  The folks at Ottobre may have a pear shape fit model since I had plenty of extra volume in the skirt after grading.  Had I wanted the dress to fit as it does the model, I would have had to stay with the straight 38 throughout.  It is good to know that for next time, but I love the dress as is, so I am for sure fine with the change I made in the sizing.

I cut the back on the fold, though the pattern instructs to cut two pieces and sew up a back center seam.  There is a bit of shaping in the back center seam, so I lost that, but it really didn't affect the look too much, so I am fine with my choice, again.  :-)

There are no darts, etc., so if you have any need to make a full bust adjustment, I would do so.  I am not sure what cup size Ottobre drafts for, but if my barely Bs fit into this and there are none of the usual extra room "wrinkles" I often get, then that tells me that at least in the smaller sizes, they draft for a smaller cup size.

The pockets, btw, are wee!  I can't fit my phone in there, and my super long hands definitely don't fit.  I mean I can stuff them in there, but they are not deep and substantial.  I do wish the bags were bigger, but for a knit dress meant to be worn to work, I am fine with it as is...

BTW, the v-neck is not really a v-neck.  I didn't add the dart like they suggested in order to create the v, and though I toyed with the idea, I actually think I like it better a bit more rounded.  I am not the only one, most of the Twig dresses I have seen on the internet have also been of a rounded neckline and not of the v-variety!

Here you can see the length best.  It hits at the top of my knee, so 100% appropriate for my job, with tights, leggings, and bare-legged.

Finally, I am showing it with a blazer and a belt, to show how it looks for any of you who work in an environment that requires a blazer for work.  (I had a job on Capitol Hill for years and I very much had to do the whole "blazer/conservative dress, skirt, pants/proper accessories" thing, so I feel all of you in that situation!)

Okay, that's it for this month.  I have to say once I got the pattern traced, the rest of it came together pretty quickly.  The fabric was very easy to sew and the instructions, while sparse, had just enough info for me to sew it up in a matter of hours.  If you are just starting out, these instructions may not be enough, but for advanced beginners and up, this is a delightful, quick, and easy sew.

~Dina, My Superfluities.