Yay!!! I knocked off one of my 2018 “Make Nine” goals with this Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson. I haven’t blogged about all my completed projects, but I’ve sewn 6 out of the 9 patterns I selected the beginning of the year. With just under five months left, I think I’ll be able to make everything on my list! You can read all about my 2018 garment goals here.
I made the Highlands dress earlier in the spring, but just haven’t had a chance to blog about it until now (blame it on my kids and other sewing commitments!) This dress has been worn on so many occasions already and has lived up to my expectations for sure. The slim column silhouette makes my 5’3″ frame look so tall and the length adds to the sophistication. I love how the Highlands dress covers the body, but still has a bit of sass with the high slit skirt and deep v-neck.
For the fabric, I chose this Telio stretch chambray with a crazy cute pineapple (!!!) print from Fabric.com. You can see this dress, plus read up about this substrate on the original Fabric.com blog post I wrote for them here. After a few months of wear, I can say the fabric still feels great and still has nice stretch and recovery. However, I did have to wash it twice to get all of the extra dye out of it.
My wardrobe doesn’t have many short-sleeved dresses. They are mainly long or sleeveless altogether. So, I wanted to make the sleeved version so I don’t necessarily have to bring a cardigan with me everywhere!
I’m heavy in the calve area and I don’t like dress hems to hit me at one of the widest parts of my legs, so I’m not a “midi” length lady. That’s why I also chose the maxi length. After following a few people on IG who made this dress, it was safe to say I would need to shorten it by 5″. But beware – There are two shorten/lengthen points on the skirt (one for the rise and one for the leg length.) Make sure to shorten at the lower of the two lines or you end up raising the slit like I did. (Doh!) That was one mistake I made which I didn’t realize until I had a slit high up my thigh! Since I already sewed on the facings, I had to hand-stitch the slits together a few inches. That was a hard lesson learned!
What I love about this wrap dress pattern are the two button tabs (one inside and one right under the ties) to keep the bodice secured. If you have ever worn a RTW dress that just uses ties, you know that they will end up untying at the most inconvenient…er..most embarrassing times…even when you double-tie. I know I’m not alone here, right? With the two tabs AND the tie, this wrap dress feels VERY secure.
Project Details:
- Pattern: Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson
- Fabric: Telio stretch chambray
- Sizing: I measured 6 in the bust and 8 in the waist/hip, but made a straight 6 so there wouldn’t be as much bunching around the back elastic. I also used a 10% stretch fabric.
- Alterations: Shortened skirt by 5″
- Thread: Gutermann Polyester
- Machine: Juki TL-2010Q
Happy Sewing!
Cristy
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