How I Copied a Dress: Part 2 – Sewing

Original

To recreate this dress, I chose a viscose similar to the original. My first idea was not to include pockets — they usually don’t sit well on my body, get wrinkled, and I end up having to adjust them all the time. But in this design they’re well positioned and that doesn’t happen, so I decided to keep them. To add a special touch, I used a brightly colored fabric both for the finishing and for the pockets themselves.

 

 

  

Finishing the neckline and armholes

I used bias binding for the finishing and tested three different methods. Each one produced different results and levels of difficulty:

1. Bias binding with the armhole open, leaving 4 cm unstitched I sewed the bias with the armhole still open, leaving the first 4 cm on each side loose. Then I closed the side seam, trimmed the excess, and finished the bias binding. Result: the best visual finish. Difficulty: medium.

2. Bias binding applied after joining the shoulders I sewed the bias on the neckline after joining the shoulders. Result: the least satisfactory; the bias ended up wide and the finish wasn’t great. Difficulty: high.

3. Bias binding with the armhole open I sewed the bias with the armhole open, trimmed the excess, and only then closed the side seam. Result: acceptable. Difficulty: low.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elastic at the waist: my preferred method

I like to apply the elastic through a casing, because that way I can replace it in the future without having to unpick the dress.

To do this, I increased the seam allowance of the skirt at the waist. I used 1 cm throughout the dress, but since the elastic is 0.8 cm wide, I cut the skirt with a 2 cm allowance (1 cm of the regular allowance + 1 cm for the casing).

I marked a line 1 cm from the edge of the skirt on the outer side to guide the joining of the pieces. I placed the bodice inside the skirt (right sides together), aligned the side seams, and stitched along the marking. This seam sits 1 cm from the bodice edge and 2 cm from the skirt edge.

While editing the video, I realized it would have been even simpler if I had also added a 2 cm allowance to the bodice. That way, I could have aligned both pieces at the edge and stitched directly at 2 cm, trimming the excess from the bodice afterward.

To form the casing, I folded the skirt’s seam allowance inward and stitched it, creating a 1 cm channel. I could have finished the edge and sewn it without folding, but I prefer the cleaner look.

I made a small opening in one of the side seams to insert the elastic and reinforced it by hand to prevent the seam from opening over time. The opening is so discreet that I didn’t bother closing it afterward. I threaded the elastic through, tried on the dress to adjust the comfort, and only then joined the ends.

Hem

My dresses tend to sit shorter at the back, so the best way to level the hem is to mark it while wearing the dress. It worked perfectly: I ended up with a 4 cm difference between the front and the back.

After that, I finished the edge with an overlock and hemmed it with a simple straight stitch.