Loving Lois - Tessuti Dress

Today brings a new pattern (for me) and it was such a great find! 

 Whilst I have heard of Tessuti and of course, like many people, tried the free Mandy Boat Tee pattern (which unfortunately doesn't work for me at all), I hadn't really given the patterns on the site much attention.

Enter the Lois Dress which had me intrigued... It's V-neck and floaty and was calling to me. I went for the gamble and bought the pattern. I wasn't convinced it would work well as I had fit issues with the sleeves of the Mandy Boat Tee being too tight for my arms and I fully expected this to be too tight. This was also a concern as my measurements put me in the 16+ range....which doesn't exists. I figured I'd just add a bit of ease.

Before making this I went on an internet deep-dive about the fit and just about every review said it came up really big and to size down. 

I can confirm - this dress comes up big. Size down.

 For the actual size I did start with the 16 to see what happened. The fabric is red poppy viscose from Rainbow Fabrics which I chose for my toile.

What happened is that the 16 fit wonderfully across my back and shoulders. The bit I figured would pull too tight. I did however have to take it in from under the arm to waist so in reality that part is a 14.

This is a hell of a pattern with some very interesting details:

Back Wrap - there are no side seams! The skirt wraps to the back of the dress with some darts that create the shaping at the hips.

Hip Zip - the zip is inserted into the side hip dart. There dress is so roomy, there was absolutely no need for a zip and so my versions, don't have one. 

Beautiful Binding - the method of binding the neckline is amazing. There's some kind of folding and edge stitching magic going on which created a non-gaping, fitted neckline.

Interfacing Insanity - this pattern appears to be sponsored by Vislene as it has you interface just about every edge and seam with stitch and tear - and tear it all off after you have done. I did not do that. I just stay stitched the neckline and the front skirt piece. It was fine. 

Bias Binds - The arm cuff pieces are cut on the bias so ease into the armhole nicely. 

I don't think I've ever worn something so low cut but the fit of the dress is just fantastic at the neckline. I thought it was quite flattering and didn't cause any unwanted flashing when it was worn.

 

That being said I figured that if I could raise the neckline a bit, the pattern could make a great day dress. I picked some really fun poison dart frog rayon from Soimoi who sell through Amazon. (Takes about 3 weeks to arrive from India to UK).

 I made a few changes to the pattern to make this yellow frog version. 

Cuffs - due to fabric constraints I cut these on the grain not bias. They were absolutely fine. 

Bust darts - my original version had the darts in a bit of an odd place so I moved these about 1.5" across the bodice.

Neckline - Melt Stitches has a great photo of how the neckline is raised so I refer you to her site! She had also popped in a few buttons which I thought was a nice detail and so also did the same for mine. (Buttons from Etsy)

 Skirt flare - unfortunately I had to narrow and shorten the skirt pieces due to fabric constraints as I didn't realize it was a fairly narrow piece I had chosen. Works just fine for a day dress though and minimal waste!

Loving Lois.

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