Sunday, 10 July 2016

The Martine Wrap Dress

A few months ago my friend Martine asked me to copy a dress for her.  It was a stretch jersey wrap dress... nothing very complicated she assured me, but a flattering style and very easy to wear.   Martine travels a lot for her job so she wanted something that was easy to pack, light weight and comfortable.   She said that this dress was perfect and wanted a couple more.

So with her original dress in hand I set about to copy the pattern.  

There are only 4 pattern pieces (front left, front right, back and the little D shaped insert which you cut twice) plus a couple of lengths of bias binding to finish the neckline and sleeves.

The cross over front and pleating around the waist line makes this a very flattering dress on almost any body shape.  A stretch fabric is ideal but one that has some body and drape to it.  

The right front hem curves up to join into the D shaped insert. The fixed cross-over means that there are no ties to come undone or add bulk.   



This first dress was made in a slightly softer jersey that draped well but had less stretch.


For the second dress, I added  3/4 length sleeves... These could quite easily be full length for winter wear.



Dress N°3 - back to sleeveless.  There was to be a N°4, which in the end turned into a top as the fabric didn't have enough elasticity.

Having made all these versions for Martine, I just had to have one for myself... so here is my very own "Martine Wrap Dress" made in a stretch jersey cotton.   I've already worn it several times and think I will almost certainly make myself a winter version with full length sleeves. 







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