The Chado Ralph Rucci Wool Double Knit Dress

This garment is ALL about the fabric.  This amazing Chado Ralph Rucci wool double knit fabric was posted on Moods' Instagram account a couple of weeks ago. After some discussion online, some drooling and a desire that just wouldn't go away, I went to Mood and purchased three panels or 4 3/4 yards of fabric. C'mon it's Chado Ralph Rucci fabric and you KNOW how much I love his designs!!! 

It's an awesome piece of fabric with a lot of possibility so I went through several ideas of how to use the fabric to its best advantage.  I finally settled on the idea of sewing a variation of my TNT dress pattern along with a suit comprised of a jacket & a straight skirt.  This post is all about the dress.

The Pattern ~
I started with a version of my TNT dress called The Whitney Dress. As you know, the first one was made in a brown wool crepe with an orange top stitching embellishment that I made shortly after Whitney Houston died. For this one, I made the fabric the main attraction.

Notions ~
1 - 22" purple invisible zipper
black rayon seam tape
black bemberg lining
1" black lace

Construction ~
First can I say that this fabric was easy to sew.  The thread just sunk into the seams and it pressed easily.  It is a mid to heavy weight fabric so this dress will be perfect when the temps drop.  I took photos both inside and outside ~ outside being the most miserable because I was hot, hot, hot in this dress. I've included both sets of pictures in this post because seriously if I had made the dress in season, I would have had on stockings or tights and there would have been falling leaves in the background...so imagine! *LOL*

Now one of the differences between this version and the original is that I've added bracelet length sleeves to it.  The purple sleeve bands work well with the purple inserts.  Actually this is one of my favorite features of the dress.

To effectively use the purple on the back of the dress, I added a stripe down the back of the dress.  It adds length and contrast to the back.

The thing is this is a basic black dress with purple accents - well placed purple accents - but accents just the same.  Construction details are in this post but here are a few highlights.

• The dress is cut a little smaller than my normal TNT dress pattern because I wanted a closer fit for this dress.
• I used the same v-neckline as the Whitney Dress.
• The dress is lined in black bemberg and hemmed with 1" black lace trim.
• Instead of sleeveless like the original dress, I've added bracelet length sleeves to this version so the dress can be worn without a topper.  I really don't want to hide any of the design features of the dress. Plus the dress is warm so unless the temps drop really low this winter, I won't need to layer.
• The dress skirt front has a center front seam. I did that because I needed to get all of the pieces out of the fabric.
• The purple accents was accomplished by careful and well thought out pattern layout and cutting.  

The neckline view

The main body of the dress is lined.

The sleeves are unlined.

Lace added to the lining hemline

A few more pictures of the dress...

Conclusion~
This is a closer fitting dress than I normally wear but I was concerned that since it is a knit that it would grow upon wearing it all day.  I had my daughter laughing because I said that I felt like Oprah in the dress.  Seriously have you seen the dresses she wore while promoting the movie, The Butler? They were v-neckline knit dresses with a close-fit and several of them had color blocking to slim her figure.

I'm really happy with the final dress. This could have gone bad very quickly.  I know y'all think I can sew anything but every time I start a new project, I do take a deep breathe.  Oh and one more thing...don't the shoes look great with the dress?!  Bows, slingbacks and purple...be still my heart! *LOL*

...as always more later!