This is the Rumi Tank Dress from Christine Haynes. It’s a fairly recent make in the last couple of weeks. The fabric is Repreve which is relatively new (past couple years?) athletic knit made from recycled bottles. I often feel bad using polyester fabric despite how much I like wearing it because of its impact on the environment, but I can feel a little better in this case. So this post covers both the dress and the fabric as it’s my first time with both.
The pattern itself is pretty straight forward. It’s only 2 pieces plus the bindings. It went together with minimal effort. I noticed that my bindings end up really small compared to how they look on the website. Not sure if I used too big of a seam allowance or what. I don’t actually mind it. Just something I noticed.
I used my Janome Coverpro 2000 to finish off the edges. The coverstitch machine is its own beast. I’m getting better with each use and finding better settings, but it’s something I’m still working on so you can see a pucker here or there. Overall I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
The pattern was recently re-issued to be more size inclusive and according to her post has some slight design differences. I don’t fall into the new size range and not having the previous version, I don’t know what the differences were, but I don’t see anything I’d change. Well, except maybe for the racerback because I just generally find those difficult with bras. In the photos I wore a decorative bra so there was intentional visibility. But I don’t have many racerback bras that I really like. I should make one.
The fabric was nice to work with. This is the 205 gsm and I know they make a 300 gsm which I’d like to try since this one was on the thin side. That being said, it’s actually very comfortable and light. Since it’s athletic fabric, it’s perfect for the beach or post-yoga (not that I really wear dresses after yoga, but if I did) since it will dry quickly. So I’m looking forward to the next time I can take this on vacation because it’s perfect to toss over a bathing suit to grab a snack.
So a thumbs up for both the pattern and the fabric. I’d like to try making the maxi version of the dress out of some fabric with a bit more body, and I’d like to get some more Repreve to use with some other patterns that I really like.
We used to wear something like that on Halloween. We made it from a pillow case that we cut three holes in. Quicker. And razorbacks have a ridge of fur down their spines, jus so you know.
I’ll keep your pillowcase in mind for my next dress 😛 And yes, I know about razorbacks aka feral pigs.