A Wool Crepe Dress ala Michael Kors

This dress is on my fall sewing list but it wasn't one of the items I was thinking of working on during the sewcation.  However, I saw this on "The Lisa Robertson Show" on QVC...

...and I had the original Michael Kors dress saved in my inspiration file...

Kerry Washington wore it as Olivia Pope in Scandal

I've thought about making this in several different color and lace combinations but settled on this one...

I wanted some color since it seems like I've sewn black, black and more black for the last week.  Since this is a simple sheath dress with a black lace insert, I started with my TNT dress pattern.

Notions ~
22" red invisible zipper
7" wide black lace purchased from M&J Trims
red bemberg lining
red rayon seam tape
Ltwt. fusible knit interfacing strips

Construction Information ~
One of the interesting parts of this dress is the lace insert and it's placement. Since I'm plus size the lace emphasizes my hips (at least to me) rather than the slim waistline emphasized in the pics above.  Honestly at one point while applying the lace I wondered if this look would actually work for me but after getting the lace applied...I do like the look.

Applying the Lace to the Dress ~
Before inserting the lining to the dress, I tried it on to find the best point to place the lace on my dress and my body.

*Then I pinned the lace at the center fronts top and bottom and the side seams.  Managed to do this with a minimum amount of twisting and turning...

*Pinned the lace to the dress front and back at the top and the bottom. Double checked by measuring from the top and bottom of the dress front to insure that it was the same all the way around.

*Stitched the top of the lace to the dress by hand.

*Put the dress on again to check placement.

*Hand stitched the bottom band of the lace to the dress.

*Carefully cut around the lace motifs at the zipper center back insuring that the lace wasn't too close to the seam to get caught in the zipper...even added an additional piece of lace to cover some empty spots...

Second design feature ~
The neckline must have been stretched out when I was handling the dress. This could have been prevented if I had stay stitched the dress' neckline but of course, I didn't.  I could have used the pattern piece to snug the dress' neckline back up but after taking a tuck in it, I decided that I liked the tuck. 

It made a great design feature. So I edge stitched both tucks and pressed it flat.  Then the top of the tuck was basted down prior to the lining being inserted into the dress. Finally I added a few quick stitches at the bottom of the tucks so that they wouldn't release.

When I added the lining to the dress, I added a row of gathering to snug up the lining so that both necklines would match when sewing them together.

Technically this is a mistake.  I should have taken better care when handling the fabric BUT I like to think of it as a design feature. *LOL*

Otherwise the dress was assembled as I normally do. Here's a few pics of the dress in motion...

...and how I'll wear it with a black cardigan

I know I've just made another version of my TNT dress with lace on it but lace is still trending strong for fall.  I've got an entire Pinterest folder to reflect that trend and every day I find more things to add to it.  I also really like how lace softens office wear so there may be more of it showing up in my work wardrobe.

...as always more later!