I laughed out loud when I read Sarah‘s post this week – straight after I had posted about my Lekala dress.  She’d had a few unsuccessful makes, and ended her post saying “What’s a girl to do. Make a stripy dolman tee I think. Sigh”.  Because straight after sewing the Lekala dress I made this.

Yes. That would be a stripy dolman tee.

The fabric is viscose jersey from Tessuti, left over from my Draped T-Dress. I didn’t have quite enough fabric to cut both the front and the back on the fold, so there is a seam running down the centre back. The stripe matching is not quite perfect, but it’s close. It’s also matched at the side seams, but since the front and back dolman sleeves (and therefore the shoulder heights) are different, I couldn’t match it along the shoulder. I applied the neckband by quarter marking the top and the neckband, matching them then attaching, but this hasn’t worked as well as I’d like. There is some rippling at the centre front, which you will spot if you take a close look at the photo.

This was a little disappointing, but I know why it happened. The centre front curve is much more concave than the curve around the rest of the neckline, so needs more stretch. The next time I made the top – you knew that there’s be a second one, didn’t you? – I applied the neckband a little differently.

First, I stabilised the neckline with fusible knit tape (I did that with the viscose top too). You can easily see how the curve is more pronounced at the centre front – almost like a rounded vee. Then I sewed up one shoulder seam, and then applied the neckband. I’d left it in a long strip, and altered the amount that I stretched the neckband depending on the degree of curve. This is something that you get the hang of with practice, as it varies a little for every fabric type. While the first top I made was viscose jersey, the second is cotton/spandex.

Once the neckband was applied and pressed, I sewed up the other shoulder seam then continued with construction. This is a super easy top to make. The sleeves and bottom are finished with bands, which help to contain the oversized aspect of the top. I cut it out with the length at the shortest size, and graded from my bust to my hip measurement, eliminating any waist shaping. The pattern does not include seam allowances, and I added on a little more than I should have for version one. I’m happier with the fit of version two.

By the way, I haven’t mentioned what pattern I used! It is the Olivia Oversized Tee, by Maria Denmark.

I had to piece the back of this one as well, due to fabric limitations. These were the left-overs from my StyleARC Tootsie top. I managed to get the centre back stripes and the side seam stripes to match up nicely. The neckband was secured with the twin needle to add a bit of extra detail.

And yes, it’s sitting beautifully! I secured the neckband of the first top with the twin needle as well, but used different coloured threads in each needle. I prefer to run the twin needle stitching all on the body of the top – it catches the overlocked seam allowances and holds them in place. Although sometimes I will twin needle with one needle on the neckband and the other on the top. Just depends! I accessorised with a red scarf and shoes to add a pop of colour.

Yet another third make!  Is there a rule of threes with some of these patterns?  I don’t often do four, I don’t often leave it at just two.  However, it is a while since I last made Vogue 1179.  I first sewed it back in October 2010, and the second version appeared in October 2011.  Tellingly, I still wear both dresses fairly often.  Well worth another go!

Because this pattern had been used before it was already shortened both above and below the waist. I think that it was cut out at size 12. I didn’t use the instructions for the construction, but made it in a similar way to previously. Make the pleats in the front and secure them. Sew the shoulder seams together. Seam the cowl into a tube then fold it in half wrong sides together, then sew it to the neckline. Sew the side seams. Turn up the hem (it’s a deep hem – around four inches) and stitch with a twin needle.

I remembered that the original instructions were just to turn the armholes to the inside and stitch. In my experience that doesn’t really work well around the bottom curve of the armscye, even in knits. So instead I finished the armholes with binding made from a strip of the fabric cut on the cross, folded in half right side out, sewn to the right side of the dress, turned to the inside along the stitching line, then topstitched in place. Phew!  As it happens, the armholes are a little smaller and tighter than I would prefer.  Not sure if it is a function of the fabric or a function of my size this time around.  But can I distract you with my stripe matching?

The back of the dress isn’t really shaped all that much.  The hemline is pegged, and the side seams of the back pattern piece are much more on grain than the side seams of the front piece, which are quite angled across it.  This is what creates all the extra fabric at the top of the dress that is then controlled by the front pleats.  Clever drafting for a three pattern piece dress – especially when you consider that one of the pattern pieces (the cowl) is just a rectangle!

This dress is meant to be a sack-style of dress, which I suppose is why I am drawn to it. I keep on coming back to my catch cry of “comfortable”. Luckily I don’t think that comfort and style need to be mutually exclusive! The fabric is from Darn Cheap Fabrics‘ current range, and is a slightly crinkled and washed-looking jersey. I think that the composition was poly/viscose/spandex, but that could be wrong. It was the colours that I was drawn to.

As the weather cools down I can layer this dress over short or long sleeved t-shirts, add leggings, boots, wraps and scarves. Very versatile. And now that I’ve re-read my previous blog posts I have discovered that this is actually my fourth rendition of this pattern! There was a petrol blue wool jersey version that due to the nature of the fabric was always too big for me and was given to a friend before ever being blogged. So maybe it’s not about third time lucky after all!