DIY SCUBA SHEATH DRESS | VOGUE 9075 + NEW LOOK 6107

Remember I keep talking about this teal scuba fabric? I made culottes out of it here and then I was telling you about how I decided to fix them and they ended up in pieces here? Well, this is the same fabric that rose like a Phoenix from the scrap basket to become a pretty wearable dress, even if I do say so myself…

So how did this happen?

Fabric:

Teal scuba, from an online fabric shop on eBay. (I genuinely think this fabric is cursed, as I had bought 5 metres and this is the only wearable garment that came out of it.)

Notions:

One invisible zipper, off eBay as well, plus a bit of fusible interfacing for the waistband.

Pattern:

Well, this is where it gets complicated… I initially wanted to make a dress with princess seams, so I can use the culottes to cut out the smaller pieces of the bodice. And it all worked out fine, I managed to extract all the pieces I needed, albeit a bit off grain here and there. I used my TNT, V9075, for the bodice, the sleeved version, and I was thinking to use the pattern skirt from view B as well. But the gathered skirt just did not work very well in scuba, so I had a thought of having a pencil skirt instead, more of a sheath or wiggle dress silhouette. So, I found a quick skirt pattern in my stash, New Look NL6107, view D and joined up together.

Alterations:

Well, other than frankenpatterning as per above? I added a lining to the skirt, as the bodice was self-lined, and the scuba is a bit static-y, especially with tights in wintertime. I also lengthened the sleeves to elbow length and I shortened the bodice by 1.5 cm to accommodate for the waistband of the skirt.

Construction:

I’m not going to go into many details, as I have covered this in a previous post here. The first time around I made the top sleeveless, but this time, it will be more of a winter dress and I wanted more coverage. So I just basted the armholes of the bodice and lining together and inserted the sleeves as per usual. The zipper was inserted into the bodice and skirt and then I machined the lining to the zipper tape. The skirt has a back vent, which I hadn’t made in a long while, so I had to watch a few videos to remind myself how it’s done. I finished the hem of the skirt and the sleeves with my Pfaff 3.0 Coverlock, in a neat double row of coverstitch.

All in all, pretty happy with the outcome, and I added a nice little dress to my winter wardrobe. I have already worn it to work and got a few admiring comments. I felt a bit Mad Men, it does have a bit of a retro feeling to it, but it’s comfortable and feels stylish. So what more can I ask for? Now I just need to go get more of the cursed fabric and try to remake the culottes all over again…

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