It’s no surprise that I LOVE this dress. This the Wren from Colette Patterns. I bought the fabric last summer from a shop in the LA Fashion District. I was so excited to finally use it, and it was perfect for this dress!
I know wrap dresses are sort of “trending” right now, but I have always loved wrap dresses, and it’s a total bonus that they are nursing friendly! After having Braden, I was on the search for the perfect wrap dress pattern for knit fabric, and this is the one I decided to try. There are a few new wrap dress patterns for woven fabric out there too, so I’m sure you’ll still see me sew up a few more.
I wore this to church on Sunday, and I just had to safety pin the front because the neckline tends to settle a little lower than I’m comfortable with. But what wrap dress do you not have that problem with, really? I picked up some snaps at Joann’s, and I’m planning on sewing one on to the neckline soon.
I only made adjustments for my height by adding 1 1/2″ to the bodice pieces and 2″ to the skirt pieces (at the ‘lengthen/shorten here’ lines). It hits me in the perfect spot on my waist and the length…Perfect. THIS is why I sew my own clothes! No more frustration from things hitting me in all the wrong places and everything being too short!
The sleeves are a bit loose, but Dallas tried to convince me that it’s the style since it’s a springy dress, and they aren’t supposed to be really fitted. It seems like other Wren dresses have loose sleeves too, so I’m going to go with it!
The only thing in the pattern that threw me a little was gathering the skirt before sewing it to the bodice. The skirt is gathered with clear elastic and it’s crazy how far you have to stretch the elastic to get all of the fabric to fit. I read the instructions like a million times because I was like “WHAT?!”. Haha. I was also a little nervous about how short the elastic was and if it was going to be uncomfortably tight around my waist. But in the pattern it says “adjust for comfort”, so I loosened it by adding about an inch of elastic on each side, and the fit is great.
I used my magic Wonder Tape to do all of the hemming, and it helped so much since this fabric is really thin and a little bit flimsy. But that’s what makes it so good for twirling! 😉
Have you made a wrap dress? What wrap dress patterns do you love or which patterns have you been wanting to sew?
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This dress is gorgeous! I have made some circle skirt dresses with knit for McCall, and I use the clear elastic when I attach the skirt to the bodice. That stuff is kinda hard to stretch!
Thank you Sky! ❤ The clear elastic is tricky, but it ended up being okay with how far I stretched it!