Sparkly New Look 6936!

Yes, I've made yet another New Look 6936!

I do love this now sadly out-of-print pattern. This time I tried out a new view, the faux wrap bodice of View B, with ruched shoulders.

I'm not generally much for wrap dresses or even wrap bodices, as I find they don't fit me too well what with my uneven shoulders and short waist. But since this was a pattern I was familiar with already, and it is knit, I thought I'd give it a try. Also because I wanted to make a wrap dress of some kind to join in on the #SewTogetherForSummer hashtag on Instagram!

So I wondered if this might be the perfect opportunity to use an odd piece of remnant knit in my stash -- a lighter weight striped knit which also has raised lines of gold. It's pretty sparkly, and was a bit shifty to cut due to the gold blobs. But sewing turned out to be pretty easy since the fabric clung to itself when face to face. Since I know that this pattern has a crazy amount of bodice ease, I cut my usual size 12 at shoulders/bust, grading out to a 16 at the waist.

I found some shiny black ribbon to use in the shoulder seams and also added in side seam pockets, sewn from the same fabric but with some seam binding sewn in along the pocket seams to reduce any stretching. Even matched the stripes on the side seams!

I did end up attaching the bodice crossover a little more than marked on the pattern to give myself more coverage -- probably only about an inch either way -- then stitched everything down. The method of construction is a bit funny on this one in order to have finished shoulder seams acting as casings for the ribbons - you finish off the bodice and arm and neck edges before attaching it to the skirt.  It meant that I could really fit it to my preferred coverage before finishing though. I did still add a little pin to the crossover point when wearing this to work, though.

It turned out better than I expected, and I actually really love it. I may still hem it to remove the black stripe at the bottom of the skirt, but I haven't decided if I should yet. I do like it a bit long this way. This is a fun dress that is adaptable; you can ruche the sleeves up to be almost a sleeveless look if you like that - I like my shoulders covered a bit so left them less ruched. Definitely a great pattern that I've got a lot of use from!