Scuba dress

Plaid scuba dress

Plaid scuba dress

Plaid scuba dressdress: self-made, patterns here and here // detachable collar: self-made, pattern here // tights: random shop in a cat village in Taiwan // shoes: Seychelles

Hello 2015! Not sure how that happened. I’m still getting used to it not being summer anymore.

Anyway, sometime in November I wandered into Sewfisticated and they had randomly gotten a quite impressive selection of scuba knits. I briefly considered buying one of each but then came to my senses and went home with only two, a fancy floral and this lovely red plaid.

I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to make: some kind of a short-sleeved skater/party dress kind of thing. I dug through some patterns and decided to use Burda 7739 with elongated sleeves for the top half and a slashed and widened lady skater skirt. Everything pretty much came together easily!

The scuba knit was so much fun to sew (and to wear! I often end up petting my skirt in public which is probably a bit weird). It’s kind of squashy and does what it’s told. I was entertained. The only issue I ran into was hemming the skirt and sleeves; I didn’t love the way the line of stitching stood out in the squashiness. I might undo it and do some kind of hidden hand-stitching on the inside instead.

I also realized that I somehow managed to recreate this dress pretty much exactly (other than the princess seams vs waist darts). I think this might even be the exact same fabric. Whoops?

I’m also so thrilled to have finally finished this detachable collar! I started it ages ago when Megan Nielsen first posted her tutorial and then got tired of beading and abandoned it. I mostly used her pattern but made the collar tips a little pointier. Of course when I picked it up again two months ago I decided to go even crazier and started hand-stitching seed beads onto it. My fingers were not pleased with this decision but I love the effect! I’ve been wearing it a lot to dress up lazy outfits.

In other news, I’m in love with these cat tights I picked up in Taiwan.

Sidenote: I’m giving the blog a bit of a facelift so excuse please the mess until I get things figured out!

10 Comments sewing - - - - -

10 thoughts on “Scuba dress”

  1. Wow, you really did recreate the Forever 21 dress! I bet yours will last longer. Nice job! It’s probably better that you pet your dress in public than those adorable kitty tights. But then again… 🙂

  2. Such a beautiful dress and it does look strikingly similar to the Forever 21 one you’re right, but you made it yourself, which instantly makes it a million times better.
    Love the kitty tights, they’re so cool.

  3. Susan said it perfectly; whilst your dress looks exactly the same as the Forever 21 dress, your’s will last longer. And it’s perfectly fitted to you! It really looks quite amazing.
    Can I just say that I love the stockings! I really want them!

  5. Is Scuba knit the same as neoprene?… I think it is. Looks great. I still have some in my fabric stash to have a go with. The collar is really ornate and detailed, a lot of hand work. Beautiful!

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