Named Inari again – Indie Pattern Month 2018

I didn’t have any particular plans to enter The Monthly Stitch’s Indie Pattern Month this year, despite my all-out efforts last time around (New To Me, Hack It, Indie Pattern Royalty). It was pleasant happenstance that one of their challenges – Around the World – perfectly aligned with my existing sewing plans.

Say hello to my little friend. And our new garden bench from KMart.

That plan was to sew the Named Inari Tee Dress in leftover cotton/spandex knit from Spotlight – the same knit which I used to make two Grainline Hemlock Tees. This fabric really is the gift that keeps on giving!

 

I had already made this pattern twice: once as a stretch woven dress, and another as a woven tee. Both times I sized up fairly generously to accomodate the reduced give in the fabric, which worked well. This strategy, however, did not work well at all in a very stretchy knit.

When I cut out the exact same size, with the same adjustments in the cotton/spandex knit, it looked hilariously bad. The fabric draped and stretched and pulled in an unsightly manner. So, much to my dismay, I unpicked the entire dress and recut it in a size 42.

Due to fabric restrictions, I cut the length as drafted (I had added 15cm length to my previous versions). The pattern pieces just squeezed in, with a little shaved off the back side seam near the vent, which I added to the front so the dress would not be narrower around.

You’d think being a knit dress, this project wouldn’t require that much effort, but it wanted to fight me the whole way through. After the unpicking and recutting saga, I sewed the dress up again, carefully stripe matching as well as I could. Hemming posed another problem – I machine basted and sewed a narrow hem (1cm, to preserve length) with a straight stitch, which came out looking like this:

BURN IT WITH FIRE

After coming to the logical conclusion that my sewing machine hated me, I hand basted the hem down, took out the wobbly stitching and redid it with a square zigzag (2.5L & W). Sewing over water-soluble interfacing ensured the fabric didn’t move around under me, and that the zigzag didn’t stretch the hem out more than it already had.

Much better. Turning corners is tricky when sewing a zigzag. I chose to overlap the stitches at the corners to secure the area, and because it looked neater.

 

Anyway, all the effort proved fruitful, as I now have an easy-to-wear dress for summer. The pattern alterations did the trick, besides the length. Heads up for taller sewists – this thing is short. I should have realised from the pattern photography, if I’d paid any attention.

And yet again, I’m here with the repeat pattern makes. I guess I’ve well and truly reached the stage where I can’t be bothered trying a new pattern if I’ve already found something that works.

The deets:
Pattern: Named Inari Tee Dress
Pattern details: A loose-fitting tee dress and a cropped A-line tee, available in sizes 32-46. Comes as a layered PDF, copyshop or A4, or a printed pattern.
Fabric: Leftovers of 145cm wide printed cotton spandex, stripe, navy/gold spot, from Spotlight.
Other materials: Clear elastic.
Mods: Size 42
– Nearly 2.5cm forward head adjustment, moved sleeve cap forward to match
– Used own neckband (5cm wide, folded in half)
– Due to fabric restrictions, took 6mm from back side seam near hem, so added that to front side seam at same location
– Only took 1cm hem (which added 2cm length)