Casual Cotton Coco Dress

Over the weekend I made a couple of Coco dresses by Tilly and the Buttons. I had previously made a glam version of this dress that I was really happy with and have worn a couple of times already with many compliments. I wanted a more casual version for summer (ooh, look my toes are still painted for 4th of July).

I had picked up this cotton jersey knit intending to try this dress out in cotton. This fabric is Embrace by Valori Wells from the Quill line.

It went together pretty much like the last one except there were only 2 pieces to cut out since I was making a sleeveless version.

I used this grey grosgrain for the shoulder seam to stabilize it although I did serge all the edges to finish them as well.

I had previously made a size 3 and had to take in the waist, but it looked fine. However, when I cut a size 3 out of the cotton jersey it was huge on me. Maybe it was the drape of the previous fabric that it didn’t really show how big it was, but this one was quite large.

I knew I could take in the sides as I had before as I show above, but taking it in too much at the arms would shrink the armholes which were already rather snug. Guess I’d just have to cut those bigger, too. I decided to continue on.

But I had more serious problems when I got to the neck. I finished off the neck seam as recommended but used a straight stitch instead of a zigzag. Not sure the zigzag would have helped. It just gaped so much on me. It would have been off the shoulder if I’d left it as is.

But I fixed it! I brought it in the neck seam with a little pleat on both sides. Then I covered the stitching with binding. I did the same on the back. And I used the binding on the armholes as well.

This was my first time doing this kind of jersey binding. Basically I cut the binding about an inch shorter than the circumference, made it into a loop, stitched it to the front, then wrapped it around, folded under and top stitched on the front to catch the back. There are several good tutorials on line although I realize now that most of them don’t do that extra step of folding under the edge. Interesting . . . anyhow, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out overall.

It’s stil a bit big, especially around the arms, but it’s comfy and works well with a little crop sweater or a gray cardigan that I have over it and that hides the arms. Not sure how much I’ll wear it, maybe just to hang out, but it was some good experience sewing knits. Next time I’ll definitely go down a size or two.