The meta dress - a red Red Velvet for #sewredoctober

Oops, so I'm late blogging this one (there's a surprise!) but I did actually sew it in October! 

And another surprise (not!) is that I am in love with Red Velvet, one of a raft of new patterns StephC from Cake Patterns has released. As a total Cake fan girl, I love how easy she makes it to get a great fit off the bat with no muslin, and how you can get lots of different looks from the same pattern.

As I generally need extra length, I started with a tape measure.  This pattern conveniently has the bodice length and skirt length marked.  I lengthened the bodice pieces by 2" and the midriff pieces by 4". I cut the skirt with an extra 2" length. As usual with Cake, you use your own bust and waist measurements to make your own pattern pieces and choose bodice pieces based on cup size.

This version used a lovely crepe jersey from Minerva Crafts. I spotted it when Winnie used it to make her Victoria blazer and promptly ordered it in a few colours including this lovely bright red.  It's pretty stretchy with a 4 way stretch and super comfortable to wear. I would definitely recommend nabbing some of this jersey while they still have it in stock as you can't beat it for the price!

For the first version I decided not to add the collar. I also didn't add the invisible pocket as for me, pockets are for my hands!

It was really easy to make and fit as ever. At the fit check, I took an inch off each side seam to account for the stretch in the fabric. Later I took another inch off at the waist. I also removed some of the extra midriff length I had added once the skirt was attached.  This was due to the amount of stretch and the weight of the skirt pulling it down.

On this make I realised the importance of using decent thread for topstitching! The first thread I used was part of a box that came with my machine. It's fine for seaming but the topstitching round the neckline looked terrible. I knew it would bug me so I unpicked and redid it with thicker thread. 

All the seams are sewn using a long narrow zigzag and then overlocked.  Beware of overlocking the pleated waist seam if you have a lightweight (as the repair man put it - he was too polite to say cheap!) overlocker.  They are not made to go through that many layers and I badly bent the upper looper. That's not a cheap fix, believe me! Hubby managed to get it going again but it's not quite right.  I may have knocked out the timing or something.

For the hem i used fusible stay tape and then twin needled and it looks great.

But the dress is fab and I got lots of compliments!

And of course Steph is having a sew along so I had to get all competitive and join in! Go Team Esme! This dress doesn't qualify as I made it before the sewalong started but I have more to show you over the next few days.