Swing Dress
I love this stretch cotton sateen. I normally navigate towards knit fabric, but I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone. The feel of this fabric is soft and it is easy to iron. I originally thought I would use it to make a skirt and top, but then I decided to make my favorite self-drafted pattern – the swing dress. I could see this fabric being used to make a maxi skirt, button down shirt dress, a pair of cropped pants, or a pair of shorts. The choices are endless. This fabric is so easy to work with and the little bit of stretch it has makes it easy to wear. The fabric is not slippery, so you could get away without using pins when sewing. However, as usual cotton frays so I recommend serging or zig zagging the seams.
In making the swing dress, I cut the front and back pieces on the fold. The fabric wasn’t wide enough for the swing, so I cut to the end and made a side slit in the shape of a V. On the back piece, I cut into the fold about five inches down to add a button and elastic. This was to allow enough room to get my head through. I did a zig zag stitch around the opening to keep the fabric from fraying. I added pockets and a flutter sleeve. I love how this turned out. I decided to concentrate on the royal blue in the print and wear shoes to accentuate that color. I wanted to show a casual look with tennis shoes as well as a dressy look with stilettos. I hope you enjoy the photos.
