Three Easy Knit Travel Dresses

I've mentioned before that I love knit dresses for the summer and especially for travelling - they are comfortable, pack up really small and light and don't crease plus it is easy to wear them very casually for sightseeing and dress them up a bit for evening.

This is mostly old news if you follow my instagram account (@allisoncsewing), but last month I went to Puglia, Italy and as usual decided at the last minute that new dresses were needed.  I turned to 3 of my favourites that I have made many times before.  I actually only managed to get two of them done in time, but the final one is finished now and will still get plenty of outings before summer is over.

Burda Style 05/2010 - 105
I have lost count of the number of times I have made this dress (& now I think about it I packed 4 of them on this trip!).  I usually widen the skirt and wear a slip underneath to reduce the lumps and bumps a bit, but honestly I prefer the narrower skirt silhouette if you have the confidence for it.

This version is very casual, in a soft pink & black stripe cotton knit.  It doesn't drape as well as some of the ITY knit versions I've made in the past, but for casual daywear it is ideal.

McCall's 6319 (out of print)

I've only ever made View A and I've never bothered putting on the zipper at the shoulder, perhaps I will branch out on a future version!

This one is in a classic black & white striped knit, I like the effect the asymmetric pleats make with the stripes.

McCall's 6069 (out of print)

Last but not least is McCall's 6069, View A which is the one I just finished last week.  Despite making this dress a few times before I have yet to make it in anything close to the 1 hour boldly claimed on the pattern!  Originally I wanted a sort of relaxed maxi sundress feel so I widened and lengthened the skirt.  However, when I tried it on it looked too much like a formal gown with it's dramatic front and back cowl drape.  This is good to know if I ever need a packable, quick to make fancy dress, but it wasn't what I was looking for this time so I hacked the skirt down to midi length.

McCalls 6319 Dress Times Two

Another repeat of a favourite pattern.  I have a trip to Australia coming up to see friends and family and I wanted to make some new things for it.  Although it looks like it is going to be warmer in Hong Kong than Aus so I might get more wear out of the cardigan from my last post than these dresses - oh well at least I am getting a head start for summer!

I've made this dress twice before so there isn't a lot more to say.  It is an easy pattern and again I made view A (the white one on the pattern envelope) even easier by leaving off the shoulder zipper and not lining the bodice.  I like the zip detail, I can just never find a nice one in the right length, but even if I added it I don't think I would make it functional, this dress goes on over the head easily.

My last version used a border print so I had to modify the skirt to keep a straight hem, but for these versions I went with the original pattern.  These are size 12, with 3cm length added to the bodice at the shorten/lengthen lines marked on the pattern as it seems a bit short otherwise to get the blousing effect shown.

This version is in a snakeprint jersey which I found at the street market in Sham Shui Po.  It has an ombre effect from pale grey at the top through beige and into a darker brown that is a bit difficult to see in the dressform photos.

This second version is in a very loud swirly print that a friend got me from the fabric market in Shanghai. The fabric is on the thin side so I lined the skirt in a very lightweight sheer knit, it's just enough to make sure the skirt isn't see through (I think and hope!).  I had a go at keeping the pattern broadly matched across the waist seam, more successfully in the back than the front.

I already know that these will get worn a lot, the style and prints make these two really versatile and easy to dress up or down.  This is a knit dress that can easily be made in a few hours, I really recommend it and I'm sure these won't be my last.

McCall's 6319 Dress

While I had my serger threaded up with black (it takes no time at all to rethread so I don't know why I do this, as good a way as any of deciding what to make next I suppose!) I thought I would tackle the border print jersey that was still hanging around from my last fabric shopping trip.  I love wearing simple knit dresses in the super hot weather we have right now, when I met up with Maria we were both wearing essentially long t shirts with elastic at the waist.  Simple easy sewing and brainless dressing, can't beat it.

I used McCalls 6319, a basic dress with a bit of asymmetry that I have made before here.  That version, whilst a gorgeous colour was not good quality fabric, it became flimsy, pilled like crazy and has had to go.  I made view A again (and again without the shoulder zipper) except I had to change the skirt portion from a bias pleated piece to a straight rectangle to accommodate my border print.

I did try to get clever here and originally cut the front skirt wider, added in some pleats and stitched it all up.  After a day of wearing it I realised it just wasn't going to work, unpicked it (no fun!) and removed all the excess fabric.  The proportion of my extra pleats was just wrong and the weight of them pulled the hem down on one side.  Also the skirt was a bit long so I shortened it from the top to keep the border intact.  All that would be much more interesting if I had some befores and afters to show you, but I don't, sorry!  Anyway here's the after, I'm glad to have this in my summer wardrobe, hopefully this one has a longer lifespan than its predecessor!

I wore it out to a casual dinner last Friday and found a couple of black and white backdrops on the way.

Next up, another black and white dress that I have just finished and then I am diving into my pile of activewear fabrics.