Made By A Fabricista: In the Fall, We Make Halter Dresses

Is we too many people?  Am I the only one making halter dresses in the fall? I’m not quite ready to start my fall/winter sewing, so I’ll keep summer going.  My summer was pretty eventful, and I didn’t get to sew much and now I’m trying to do a little catching up.  I’ve had this dress on my mind for a while now and I thought now is as good a time as any to sew it up and I’m so glad I did.

For this month’s post, I decided to make the Julia Dress from Viki Sews.  This dress features a semi-fitted bodice with a full gathered skirt and a deep V-shaped back. The dress fastens at the neck and back with ties and of course it has pockets! I love the length of this dress. It’s not too short and it’s not too long, which is usually an issue for me because I’m so short.

Based on my body measurements, I purchased a size 52, which is their largest size. Before I made a muslin, I measured the pattern at the waist and realized I needed to add a few inches. This might seem a little intimidating, but it’s not so hard. 

I took my waist measurement and divided that number by 4, which gave me 10.25. When I measured the front bodice waist, it measured 10”, so I needed to add a ¼” to the waist, plus the 3/8” seam allowance. I added paper to my pattern piece and marked at 5/8” (1/4 + 3/8 = 5/8) at my waist.  Then I drew a line from the armscye to the 5/8” line and that’s how I adjusted the waist of this pattern.  Oh, and I did the same in the back. 

After I made my pattern adjustments, I sewed up a muslin for the bodice.  Once I did, I realized that the bust area was too large. I wasn’t going to wreck my brain doing math, so I dug in my stash and used a pattern I’ve used before that had a bust and waist dart. I redrew the darts on my pattern and it worked out perfectly!

Not sure how I forgot that I truly dislike turning skinny ties.  I went back and forth on deciding how I was going to handle this situation and decided to make the ties as instructed in the pattern instructions. Well, after spending a ½ hour trying to turn 1 strap, I gave up. I cut out new straps and decided I would do things differently this time.  Instead of folding the strap in ½ and sewing down the side and trying to turn it right side out, I went a different route.  I folded the strap in ½ and pressed it.  Then I folded each edge to meet in the middle and pressed again. Then folded in ½ again and edge stitched. So much easier and no tears. 

Since I knew what pattern I wanted to make this month, it made it a little easier selecting my fabric for my dress. I usually open a new window when I see a fabric I like and keep on looking. Once I’ve looked through the different fabrics then I start closing windows until I narrow my selection down to 1.  This month, I selected this White/Black Oxford Shirting. This fabric was perfect for this dress. Although this is a backless dress, the fabric is great for the upcoming change in weather. It has a very nice weight to it and if you put on a blazer, no one will know the dress is backless.  I can also see myself wearing a jacket and some boots during the winter months. 

I love this dress so much. The little subtle details are everything, but I think the inseam pockets stole the show for me.  I recently became a Viki Sews ambassador and this is my first make since they welcomed me on the team. On vikisews.com you will find all types of patterns, from basics to evening attire! Their patterns are so fashion forward. If this is your jam, you should check them out and use my code SOVERYJ10 and receive 20% off your order. 

Well, I’ll be back in December for my final Fabric Mart post of the year. That’s so crazy to say. If you want to keep up with me and follow my day to day, make sure you follow me on Instagram @soveryjo.

Until next time,

JOHANNA | @soveryjo