A Digital Ponte Print Dress

I'm on a print run.  I wanted to get two quick spring dresses made from some trendy prints purchased for that purpose, and I didn't want them to linger in the fabric collection. This is the second of the two dresses...

This was the inspiration dress...

...which prompted this fabric purchase from Tessuti Fabrics.

I bought two digital pontes from Tessuti because I hadn't seen them anywhere else.  I was thrilled with how fast they appeared at my home since they were coming from Australia.

A simple straight dress to highlight the fabric's print was what I wanted so of course I started with my TNT dress pattern. I guess I could have started with another dress pattern but honestly I want the dress more than I want the fitting challenge of a new pattern.

After pre-washing the fabric, there was quite a bit of shrinkage and my two yards went from a full two yards to 1 3/4 yards...not enough for a dress...at least for my body. I had to come up with a new plan.  

There is a lot of ponte in all colors and weights in my fabric collection.  Hey, I like ponte! *smile*  You all know that I'm a huge fan of print-blocking so I thought why not have a solid red ponte back?  But after combing through my fabric collection, the only red I found was a wool ponte that just didn't work with the Tessuti one.  After fishing through the collection again, I found a blue ponte that did coordinate with the print...

...adding the blue back takes the dress from normal or expected to unexpected and isn't that what the Cavelli inspiration dress is all about?!

Some stats ~

Fabric:
Digitally printed ponte knit from Tessuti Fabrics
Blue ponte from Fabric Mart

Notions:
22" blue invisible zipper
a little stay tape
strips of ltwt. fusible interfacing

Construction ~

• The dress is unlined.
• I cut 2" off the sleeve at the hemline.
• Then I cut a 3" band from the blue ponte and added it to the bottom of the sleeve.
• Lightweight fusible interfacing strips were added to the center back seams before inserting the invisible zipper to prevent the zipper from rippling.
• Turned down a half inch on the neckline, pressed flat and stitched it down.
• All hems were pressed flat and stitched down.
• I stitched the back seam closed.  It's a knit dress and there is enough width at the hemline for walking ease.

It was a simple sew.  What makes the dress distinctive is the fabric choices I made and making sure that I cut the fabric to best highlight the print.  Also choosing the right solid ponte to back the dress with was just as important to me.

Some more pics of the dress...

I wasn't sure if the dress would work but after completing it, I'm thrilled with the finished dress because it makes me feel happy wearing it.  This has already been worn to work and it passed the wearability test with flying colors. Not only did it garner quite a few compliments for its color but it also felt like I was wearing an upscale t-shirt dress.  T-H-E perfect work dress for me!

Next up is a simple black ponte suit.  I need another one to add to my serious work wardrobe especially after making all of these fun, colorfully printed dresses.  I've already started construction on it, so look for it soon.

...as always more later!