Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: The Perfect Plus Size Dress

Hi everyone! 

Fall is here & even though it’s technically fall, the weather in Indiana hasn’t caught up yet. I’m not really complaining though, because this is my favorite time to wear all my favorite fall dresses, before it gets too windy & cold. 

Today I am sharing one of my new favorite dresses. This dress can easily be worn in a dressy style on date nights or to weddings, or even dressed down with sneakers for a walk in the park. I made this dress using a very beautiful floral bubble crepe. The fabric is a light lavender purple with flowers going multidirectional. This made it simple when considering pattern matching & cutting pieces out. For this particular dress I used 3.5 yards & had no fabric left after cutting. I would not consider this crepe to be a beginner’s fabric, because it was very slippery when cutting and also when sewing, however with patience and ample time many things can be achieved. There are also ways to help stiffen a fabric when cutting or sewing such as: light starch, but the crepe material is intentional for having a soft hand, so it would defeat the purpose. 

The pattern that I chose for this dress was McCall's 8195.  This pattern has many options to create different variations of this dress and/or “hack it” and create something completely new. For my dress I chose pattern C, which was fitting for fall. It has a fitted bodice that flares into a circle skirt & is zipped in the back to enclose it all. The pattern was very simple to follow and was not difficult to sew at all. I didn’t find myself stopping much, because I didn’t understand something, but the dress pattern did not extend to my size, so I graded it a few sizes up & to my surprise it ended up being too big. Usually I do pretty good with grading patterns considering that I used to professionally do this, however sometimes I run into issues when I grade patterns made by other people. 

My favorite part of this dress is the overall silhouette. When being plus size, sometimes it can be hard finding things that flatter your body especially in relation to patterns or even resources in the sewing community. This dress defined my wait & enhanced my curves, while still being very moderate & appropriate. The circle skirt also was very flattering & the fabric draped over everything perfectly. 

MACY  @macycamile


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: CREPE.

Comments

  1. That fabric is beautiful and fits that pattern well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This dress is so lovely and looks great on you. Thanks for sharing your make. I can see how versital and flattering it is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the fabric, and the style is beautiful on you. The square back is lovely too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Super cute and flattering. One of my peeves is the lack of really nice fabrics and cuts in plus sizes. Burda sometimes has plus patterns I cut down to fit me because they don't phone it in on the larger sizes and I often prefer those styles. I am just in between regular and plus on my bottom half and go both ways. I have thought I might sew for some of my larger friends so they can have luxury too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Really stunning. Just a perfect style, lines, and fabric choice. Not to mention a great fit!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Recent Posts You Might Like

Help Our Buyers Shop!

  Comment on this post with what you are looking for right now and our buyers will seek it out!  I am craving wool gabardines and ponte knits in fun autumn colors. What about you?

Sewing Vintage for Summer

Hello sewing friends!  I was highly motivated to try another one of the vintage Polynesian Pattern dresses I’ve collected during our hot weather. The patterns are all dramatic and fashionable and really apropos for summer styling. This one is number 204, the Pilialoha Dress.  The gown includes a wide boatneck that many of them feature, plus a very beautiful back gathering and wraparound closure. I always find that the special details on the back are such a chic surprise compared to the simple front.  I chose a lemon covered cotton lawn . I am really delighted with the quality of this cotton, it’s luxuriously soft and smooth. The scale of the lemons and blossoms are just right and not overwhelming, and the soft yellow background is beautiful. This could not be more charming and summery!  I also chose some excellent lightweight interfacing for my facings, and the real highlight is these Dritz Floral Sew-On Snaps that I’ve had my eye on for months! Finally, the perfect ...

Athletic Wear Refresh: A Bold New Gym Set

There’s something especially motivating about refreshing your workout wardrobe with pieces that feel like you. As part of my ongoing athletic wear refresh, I’m adding another handmade set to my gym wardrobe—and this one might be the boldest yet. Lately, I’ve been taking a closer look at my handmade wardrobe and thinking more intentionally about what I actually wear in this season of my life. Athletic wear has become a big part of that. Instead of treating workout clothes as an afterthought, I want my gym wardrobe to have the same personality, color, and style as everything else I make. And this fabric made that very easy.  The Fabric That Started It All   The moment I saw this vibrant multicolored paisley, I was immediately drawn to it. The mix of warm reds, oranges, greens, turquoise, and golden yellow against the light background feels bold, energetic, and a little unexpected for athletic wear . There’s something about the print that reminds me of Etro and other higher-end f...

Falling for Chiffon Again

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Tira from Tira Cooks, and I finally made the perfect sundress too bad summer is almost over! This is my last sewing project of the summer season, and I chose a beautiful red-and-white print. The result is a lightweight, flowy dress that can easily transition from summer into fall and even winter with the right layers. This fabric was actually my second choice. I originally told myself, “You need a break from chiffon!” But here I am, sewing chiffon again. The crisp hems and sewing overall were surprisingly easy. The only reminder that I was working with chiffon fabric was all the fraying! Even better, this fabric is practically wrinkle resistant. I twisted, tied, and scrunched it, and it still came out looking beautiful with zero wrinkles. Because this was a border print, planning my layout before cutting was extremely important. I mapped out the pattern pieces first to make sure the print continued beautifully throughout the dress without breaking up the de...