FO: Hawaiian Sarong Dress
Today I finally finished the sarong dress I’ve been working on for two years!
I kept running out of things – lining, boning, thread – so it took much longer than it should!
The pattern is a mashup of two different patterns – Gertie’s Liz Dress by Charm Patterns, and my own Carmen Skirt pattern. The skirt had no modifications, but I’ll walk you through how I changed the bodice.
- Step 1 was to get the fit correct on the bodice for the regular Liz dress. I’ve already done this, so most of the work is done already here
- Step 2 was to remove the pleated cups. I basically just used the lining pattern for the front as well
- Step 3 was to just make the back go right across.
- Step 4 is the straps. I decided that I wanted them as thick as was they were under the bust. I drew some long straps, cut them on the straight grain (not bias) and sewed them onto the dress in the same way you would normally for the Liz dress.
- They will pucker at the side of the bust as the go around – this is normal. I then pinned the excess pucker fabric into darts, and transferred the darts to the straps in the same location.
- I closed the darts up, and redrew the strap – it should be curved now, like a L shape. This will ensure it’s nice and snug around the bust.
- Sew in the L shaped strap around the bust.
The fabric I used was vintage border print cotton, with gold trim. It’s actually quite thin so I’ve lined the dress with red cotton lawn.
I also used spiral steel boning in the bodice, and some plastic fine boning in the bra cups.
I felt like I needed a bolero too, so I used Butterick 6354 to make an easy bolero.
Overall
I love this dress. It fits really well (ignore that back photo, I’m standing weirdly, it does fit properly) and the fabric is light enough for our humid summers.
If I was going to make it again I think I would need some very special fabric though!