Hi all! I’m dusting off this blog (and wow was it dusty) to talk about some recent zero-waste projects I’ve sewn up. First up is this cozy knit dress.
Concept
In this dress I wanted to try three concepts. First was the idea of cutting the armscyes and sleeve heads pretty much exactly like they are on a non-zw pattern. So no squaring them off, no weird shapes, etc. Basically the only changes were to make sure the sleeve head was symmetrical, and to straighten the shoulder line.
Secondly I wanted to try a tessellated sleeve head – the curve of the sleeve head is the same both front and back, as well as rotationally. The top curve of one sleeve head is the bottom of another.
The third idea here is using tucks to shape the garment. Originally I planned to do it just on the sleeves but since there’s no point in sewing just a sleeve and not attaching it to anything, I decided to tuck the dress as well.
Pattern – Cutting
The pattern is very simple, taken from a well-fitting knit top. Not too many pieces involved and I think it’s pretty clear what they all are. The pattern is flexible in that wider or narrower fabric the dress part could be cut wider or narrower.
Sewing
Tucks, tucks, tucks. So many tucks. If I did it again I would put them closer together, especially on the sleeve, which although it might be harder to sew would also make it more visible and nicer looking I think. It was pretty heartening to see how nicely the tucks worked to shape the first sleeve though!
The order of sewing was nothing special:
– make the sleeve tucks
– make the tucks on front and back
– shoulder seams
– neck – the neck is a standard banded neck, the band is pieced together from the neck hole cut-out
– sew in sleeves
– side seams
– (decide the whole thing is too loose, so more tucks on the front and back. Since I had already finished the neck the new tucks go up to the shoulder, which was a mistake because the shoulder seam has been pulled in)
– make welts
– make pockets (the pocket bags are scraps from another project)
– (decide that the sleeves are too short and, conveniently, the dress is too long, so a strip off the bottom because cuffs, and I hemmed with a very tiny hem)
Results – Lessons
Overall a very successful project! Using the tucks as shaping worked wonderfully on both the body and the sleeves (with the exception of the extra tucks added later pulling the sleeve seam in. Well, that would have been solved by more planning BEFORE sewing but oh well.)
One thing I hadn’t expected but really liked is how cutting the neckband from the neck hole scraps gives you a very limited amount of fabric and therefore a very narrow neckband. Trickier to sew for sure but lays nice and flat!
Very tiny pile of scraps left over, offcut from trimming seam allowances in the welt, and a bit from the neck hole. If I measure it generously it’s approximately 180 cm2, so 1.1% of the total fabric used.
Empty Hanger Patterns 