Black and White Striped Maxi Dress

 Dress: DIY (tutorial found here) similar found here, Denim Jacket(old) Polo, gold belt: thrifted, Yellow earrings; DIY

A few weeks ago I picked up this striped knit from Hobby Lobby with the hopes of making a maxi dress. I knew what I had in mind and was happy when I found there was a tutorial already written...why reinvent the wheel? So, please check out this maxi dress tutorial by Mimi G. If you haven't been to her site before...be warned- you will be there for a long time. She is an amazing seamstress and has wonderful tutorials.

While I am not much of a strapless dress person, I do tend to wear this jacket all the time and made it to wear underneath it. This is certainly more of a date look for me...as having 2 toddlers and a strapless dress don't really partner well. I worked hard at matching the stripes for the dress. In order to insure stripes that match make sure you pin it with lots of pins and when you poke the pin through the top layer, make sure it comes out in the same spot on the stripe in the back.

Then do a basting stitch and check your stripes. If they line up, then go ahead and stitch or serge the seam.

You would think with all the careful stripe matching I would have been careful while cutting...but I wasn't. My stripes aren't perfectly straight and this caused some interesting moments while sewing and using the stripe for a guide, but I think with the loose blousy effect it gets covered enough. And it was too short so I added a band of fabric at the bottom. Overall I am very happy with this dress but it isn't quite as flowing at the bottom as other maxis I have made, which makes for a little more constriction while walking. But it is cute, comfortable and great for beginners looking to work with knits.

Happy spring sewing,
Shannon