Merino wool jersey surplice dress

This project was made as part of a Craftsy course:
Sewing With Knits: 5 Wardrobe Essentials »

Instructions

Materials

Merino wool jersey with fine stripes, eggplant/white

What was your inspiration?

Meg's sewing with knits course inspired me and I used her surplice dress pattern which comes with the class. I've sewed a lot with knits over the years but there have always been things which didn't quite work out right like hems that curled and stretched and necklines not sitting right but Meg addressed those problems in the course.

What are you most proud of?

That it turned out well and is comfortable and wearable

What advice would you give someone starting this project?

Just follow Meg's instructions and it'll turn out well. I was frustrated with the jersey curling up but I found that pressing it before working with it helped (sometimes it needed a shot of steam to encourage it to lie flat but that may be because it is wool).

This fabric was very off grain when I bought it. It was a trapezoid rather than a rectangle when it was cut off the bolt and I had to do a lot of preparation to get it straightened out. It would have been much easier just to get a fabric without that problem but I really liked it so I went with it but even after washing it, pulling it into shape and blocking it when it was damp, then steaming it with my iron it still reverted back to it's crooked shape so I had to pin it to my cutting board to get it square before pinning the pattern pieces to it. The stripes really helped with lining it up and I used plastic square to check that it was aligned. It's worth doing this so that it doesn't twist after a few washes but if you're a beginner it's easier to start with a fabric without this problem as it is a bit squiffy when you're cutting and constructing it.