Sweater Dress

It’s been a good few years since I last had a sweater dress and I had forgotten how comfy and easy they were to wear. So here is my latest make which is a sweater dress made from a Lekala pattern (#4590). It’s the first time I’ve used Lekala patterns and would you believe, also my first ever PDF pattern. I’ve always used either Vogue, Butterick, Simplicity, New Look or McCalls…or self-drafted/draped my own designs.

On the Lekala website I was given the option of entering my measurements into the system in order to have a more custom fit pattern, so I decided to give it a whirl. After printing off the pattern and taping it together I did a quick check of the sizing and it seemed pretty decent on first inspection. However, a check on the length had me wondering if the pattern was actually more suited to tunic length and from the drawing on the website it definitely looked more tunic or mini-dress length, so I slashed and spread the pattern horizontally in two places to add about 2.5” in total. I also raised the back neck a little and just straightened the shoulder line a little to accommodate my square shoulders.

The fabric that I chose for my dress is a stoney beige and black jacquard weave ponte knit with only modest stretch and I bought it from The Textile Centre for an absolute steal. I loved the design and with the definite vertical lines of chevron shapes going down the fabric,  I thought it would be nice to take advantage of them and create a little feature on my dress. The pattern has an angled seam on both sides from the waist downwards (with in-seam pockets too), which creates little side panels, so I used the fabric on the cross grain for those pieces and I love how the horizontal chevrons look.

The fabric was a total dream to make up using mostly my overlocker and it turns out that the fit was spot on for me straight away. I did end up making one small final adjustment though and that was on the collar. When I did the final try on I wasn’t very keen on how the collar stood away from my neck a bit too much. Yet I couldn’t make the neckline any smaller due to there not being much stretch in my fabric. My solution was to unpick the collar along the back neck, slash the collar down the middle and take a small angled piece out of it. After neatening the edges and opening up the back seam of the dress a little, I was able to put a button and loop fastening and it now brings the collar in nicely, plus it’s easy on and off now.

I really love my new sweater dress and it’s going to be such a useful addition to my wardrobe. Plus it’s as comfy as pyjamas to wear…a total win-win if you ask me! I could be very tempted to make up this pattern again in a colourful ponte knit for spring….buuuut, my stash needs using up first….

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