I’m pretty sure I cut this out back in December (oh god, no – my notes say October?!), but to be honest, I was so sick from opportunistic infections in November and December it’s all a bit of a blur. I sewed this up over a few weeks in January, but then it took another few weeks to take some photos (lacklustre as they are) and then I lost all enthusiasm whatsoever to spend my precious “sitting upright” time to write this blog post. Tbh, sewing has lost all appeal right now – I never really leave home, I never see anyone, clothes bring me zero joy, and I hate how this sick body feels and looks so I try to avoid looking into mirrors or looking at photos of myself, which isn’t really helpful for sewing or fitting.
But having this post hanging around was nagging at the back of my brain and I want to document it before I move on. Thankfully I’d written notes in my phone as I went along, otherwise it’d be a very sparse blog post indeed!
How I wore it (Lying down)
I used the Core Fabrics (Closet Core Patterns’ sister brand), the Brise dress (which is also very similar to the Itch to Stitch “Tustin” pattern if you prefer to pay for their drafting).
The pattern itself is a free download but the pieces themselves are ENORMOUS!? There’s no way would you want to print and piece these together yourself so get them large format printed like I did. So I’d say this is more of a “technically” free pattern but the 3x A0 prints still worked out to be less than a tenner.
The dress may look at first glance like it’s a standard wrap dress, but there’s no overlapping closure – the front tie is integrated into the Front piece so you naturally get radiating gathers from it, which is a lovely bit of drafting.
The size range is pretty generous – right now I’m a size 1XL but it’s a D-cup?? There was no way I had the energy to try to figure out an SBA on the weird draped front piece so I’m just living with this being loose in the bust. This does hit my pet peeve for Plus-sized patterns though – why is it they assume all Plus bodies have big boobs, big butt, and defined waist? Cos my sick body is like a barrel with limbs and the thought of having to do tons of alterations when I can barely stand up makes me want to sew even less.
The fabric is a version of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, from Dalston Mills, and it’s still on sale for the £9.90/m I paid last year, too. It’s super nice quality, with great recovery, but note that it is a directional print!
I bought extra because I thought I might want a matching tee shirt too (and I might yet!) but it was a godsend because the extra meant I could cut all the pieces on the fold on my little cutting table except the huge, asymmetric, single layer Front piece. This piece is literally 1m x 1.5m and far too big for my cutting table (even with both leaves unfolded), and is bigger than any bit of floor space I have. But I didn’t have any energy to clear the floor space, hoover, and then crawl around on the floor so VERY THANKFULLY my friend Claire-Louise came and picked up the fabric and pattern piece and cut it out for me then delivered it again. SO grateful! I probably wouldn’t have ended up sewn this if it wasn’t for her help.
The Brise comes in 2 hem lengths: Mini (42cm from waist) and Max (90cm from waist) but I didn’t really like either so I made mine 70cm from the waist. As it turns out, this turned out to be a dowdy, below-knee hem on my at the widest part of my calves so I shortened it by about 15cm, putting me almost back at the Mini hem length anyway…
A few notes I took while assembling this pattern:
- Is it missing one front armscye notch?
- The neckband (mistakenly called a “neck binding”) is way too narrow – I sewed mine with basically no seam allowance and it’s the narrowest I’d want to go. If you sewed it with 1cm seam allowance then the band wouldn’t even cover it when worn (ie: it’d be less than 1cm wide)
- There is no need to interface the neckline. None.
- The neckband is cut on the bias?? In a jersey?? Insanity. Tell me your drafter is used to wovens and knits are a foreign land…
- I didn’t fancy the rolled short sleeves for winter so I lengthened the Sleeve armscye to make a long sleeve instead
- I added inseam pockets, because I require pockets at all times. I don’t care if it “ruins the line” or whatever – this isn’t a red carpet.
I’m so glad I remembered to baste the sleeves & side seams and try this on before putting the pockets on or overlocking it – the sleeves have more of a drop shoulder than I was expecting so my long sleeve draft was too long and too baggy. I removed 4cm from the sleeve seams and about 10cm from my original drafted length.
At the same time I noticed some weird hip shape around my mid thigh that just gives me saddlebags/johdpurs? Maybe it actually hits at the hip if you’ve got D-Cups but on me it fell far lower. Anyway, lots to take in and rebaste before eventually overlocking.
Overall, it’s a decent pattern, despite a few oddities. Truly the only reason I’d never sew it again is down to the logistics of cutting that enormouse Front piece. However, if you’ve got access to a big cutting table and enjoy wearing jersey dresses, give it a try!