Made by a Fabricista: Tiers and Gathers

I love challis for spring and summer garments. It's perfect for sundresses, kimonos and tops...even wide leg pants and jumpsuits because of it's light weight and nice drape. Challis is available in solids and a variety of prints as well as textures, like this crinkle challis. It is more often than not made with rayon which is soft to the touch and durable.

There are 4 colors of this crinkle challis available, but I was immediately drawn to this muted army green. This color always speaks to me as I consider it neutral, but you can choose from cream, straw and red (there are a few prints as well) here. I was a little worried that I would need to line this dress because it is listed as semi-sheer, thankfully I did not. This is my first time using crinkle challis and it was a breeze to work with and the texture adds interest.

This pullover dress comes together quickly as there are no closures. I was able to complete this from cutting to hemming in one evening with the gathers being the most time consuming step. Admittedly I subbed stitching in the ditch on my machine for the hand slip stitching that  was called for in the directions for the facing and collar. I often hand stitch collars, but here I didn't fell it wasn't necessary. 

There is plenty of design ease in this dress, I cut a large because I typically sew a 18 in the big 4 patterns. The large bust and waist finished measurements are 47 1/2" and 49" respectively and mine are 42" and 36". That means there's 5 1/2" of ease in the bust and 12" ease at the waist. The medium has a 43 1/2" bust finished measurements which would've to tight for the look. Next time I'll cut the bodice between the medium, but I'll cut the skirt pieces as a large or extra large for fuller gathers. I also think belt would help create some definition at the waist.

As it is though this is a great oversized dress for a hot summer day and would also work well as a coverup for the pool or the beach.