Leopard Print Dress

Leopard Print V-Neck Wrap Dress

Firstly, I have to apologize for the poor quality photographs in this post, I'm still using my phone and despite its reputation Huawei cameras aren't actually that great. Today I'm going to write a short post detailing how I made this leopard print knit dress. This is a dress I made last year in autumn, as I was in need of a nice cold weather friendly garment. I purchased the material on clearance and stashed it well over a year prior to making this dress. I had several ideas of how I wanted to use it, but during the design process I realized that some things weren't going to work. As any good sewist knows, all materials are unique and present their own unique challenges. A lot of times you might think, oh this would make a lovely dress shirt, without realizing the chosen fabric is too wrinkly or too stretchy. I had to think critically of how to use this one sided printed, soft brushed medium weight knit. I also wanted to complete the project in a short amount of time because we were due on vacation and I wanted it ready for our week long stay by the lake.

I tend to draft everything from scratch these days. This is largely due to the fact that I can never get patterns to work for my body. My back is too narrow, my waist too short, my boobs and stomach too big, it's a nightmare. A few years ago I pushed myself to learn how to pattern draft by utilizing the handful of sewing textbooks I own, and it's been a complicated but mostly fulfilling experience. I've developed a knit sloper, based off of a Burda Style block, that I use for all of my knit designs. I just change the necklines or sleeve designs and create what I want, accompanied by a lot of research. In this case I had difficulty finding a good wrap design for knits. My textbooks don't have large sections dedicated to knit, which I think is a damn shame considering knit fabric accounts for 90% of what we purchase in ready to wear clothing. In my one book it described how to make the wrap top but it was designed for woven fabric, I had tried using it on a knit muslin once before and it never looked quite right. A few months later and I had found a vintage bodysuit pattern with wrapped neckline. Instead of using the pattern outright, fully well knowing it would not fit my back, square shoulders or waist correctly, I used it as a guide when adapting my knit sloper. 

The wrap neckline, as it sounds, is two overlapping panels in the front bodice, this doubles the fabric up so it's not a good design for heavier weight fabrics, but my material just squeaked by. The neckline edge is bound and is sewn in at the side seams, cupping beneath the bust. My first attempt at a wrapped neckline had the neckline edge finishing in the waist seam, it was horrible and I wouldn't recommend that style unless you're working with a very light weight material. Knit waistlines are tricky because you have to reinforce them with elastic and sewing machines and sergers hate elastic, so adding excess material on top of that is a recipe for disaster, my best advice is to keep the amount of fabric at the waist minimal on any knit garment. 

To finish the dress I used fitted long sleeves and a drafted circle skirt. The fastest way to finish off a dress draft is with a circle skirt, they're easy to whip up and have a lovely drape, to me they look the most professional. You may notice that I make and use circle skirts in my designs often, I highly recommend them! They are the ultimate wardrobe staple and look flattering on pretty much everyone. 

Overall, I'm very pleased with this dress. It's soft and comfortable, sexy yet classy, and with my red hair it looks sharp as a tack. I even created a necklace to go with this outfit specifically, it's a rhinestone cameo with faux opal setting on a black velvet neckband - I've worn it so much I might have to replace the velvet!. I seldom reproduce the exact same project twice, so I might not make this kind of dress again but would probably make use of the wrap neckline several times in the future for other projects. It's a very flattering cut when accompanied by the long sleeves and I'd recommend it for those who are short waisted, which is something I struggle with. 

I hope you're all keeping busy. I'm working on my next sewing project, a tartan tunic top, and have just finished off a striped knit 80's inspired frock that I'll be writing about soon. 

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