Tuesday 18 April 2017

Style Arc Jema Panel Dress in Denim

Style Arc Jema Panel Dress
This panelled shift dress features a round neck and slight bell shaped sleeves. The panels offer a colour blocking opportunity or the panel seams can be frayed to create an exclusive look.

Style Arc Jema Panel Dress

I could not find any other Jema Panel Dresses on the internet, except for Anne from Clothing Engineer who has done an excellent review of this pattern which I found most helpful. The line drawing is not quite right. The proportions of the panels are different. I moved all the horizontal panel lines (except the top short front panel) down about 10 cm to better reflect the line drawing. I cut a straight size 12 and made no other alterations.


The fabric I used is a light weight denim from Spotlight. I decided to go with the frayed seam lines as a feature. The fringe is a light blue one way, and navy blue on the opposite grainline. I was careful to make sure the light blue fringe would feature on the vertical seam, and the navy fringe on the horizontal seams.


The pattern went together easily, a testament to Style Arc's great drafting skills. This dress was quite simple to construct and I would recommend it for a beginner seamstress. Anne from Clothing Engineer expanded on the technique of lapping the seams before creating the fringe which I found very helpful. I have included a photo of this step to show it clearly.


The lower panel's raw edge must be finished off to avoid fraying. (I overlocked mine). Mark a line 2cm from the finished edge. Mark a line 1cm from the raw edge of the upper panel that will be frayed. Now lap the upper panel over the lower panel, lining the raw edge up with the marked line on the lower panel. Pin and stitch along the line marked on the upper panel. Then stitch another line parallel to the stitching line.


Red thread was used for the entire construction of this dress, as I thought it would be a fun contrast, and I was too lazy to bother changing threads between sewing seams and top stitching. For the top stitching I used a triple stitch to make it stand out and I am really pleased with how this worked out.


I sewed this dress in a few stints over the Easter break and I found creating the fringe to be very time consuming, but I do like the effect. I opted to turn up the hem, and the sleeve hems and top stitch with two rows of triple stitch, rather than finishing off with a fringe.


I sewed the sleeves in flat, before sewing the side seams and sleeve seams all in one go. The sleeves eased in effortlessly. I only needed to run one row of gathering stitches around the sleeve head to ease it into the armscye. I eliminated the back neck opening as it was unnecessary and the neckline is finished off with a double inside binding and top stitched. I also added a decorative top stitch on the shoulder seams and the centre back seam.


After wearing this dress all day today, I am a little disappointed in how it has bagged out in the seat and is sticking out strangley at the lower front, probably due to me sitting all day at work. This fabric may have been a little too stiff for this pattern and a fabric with a little more drape may have worked better. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. Now onto the next project...

Happy Sewing

Jean

24 comments:

  1. thats a shame, cos it looks really nice!

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    1. Thanks Vicki. I'm sure I will still wear it. Hopefully it will soften up a bit with a few washes.

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  2. I can't see a single problem with this dress - it looks absolutely gorgeous. It may just about be my favourite dress of all the ones you've made. I really like the red stitching, and those frayed edges are awesome!

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    1. Awww thanks so much Sue. I was really happy with the red top stitching and the frayed edges.

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  3. Love this! So simple, stylish and current. Fab!

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    1. Thanks so much Manju. Sometimes the simple things do turn out fab.

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  4. Maybe a few washes will eliminate the issues.

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  5. Love it- very groovy with the boots. Occasionally I've found Style Arc's line drawings a bit misleading with regard to proportions too.

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    1. Thanks Paola. It is a bit annoying that the line drawings are not always accurate.

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  6. Love your dress! The fringe is a great touch. Worth the effort.

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    1. Thank you Lucy. I agree the fringe was worth the effort.

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  7. Jean, this is really lovely! I'm inspired!

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    1. Oh thank you Lynne. I'm so glad I have inspired you.

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  8. I don't see a single thing wrong with this super cute dress!! LOVE this!! Love all the details you put into making this..... especially the exposed fringed seams and contrasting red thread. Great job!! :)

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    1. Thanks so much Lisa. The negatives only became apparent after wearing it all day. Hopefully a few washes will soften it up and make it behave.

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  9. Its a clever twist on a mod dress. I love how you have used the edges of the denim.

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    1. Thanks Karen. The fringe is a fun design element.

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  10. I love how the fringe emphasizes the style lines. It looks great, I hope you will enjoy wearing it once the fabric softens!

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  11. Love your dress, especially the seaming technique. Should you wish to soften the denim in one or so washes, pour a can of Coke (must be Cokacola) in the soap dispenser of your washing machine and use a regular wash cycle (no soap). Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns swears by this method to soften any stiff fabric. You will be amazed at how well this works.

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  12. This is a very interesting dress with all those lines and you did the fringing! Have you tried to soften the fabric?

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    1. Thanks Sharon. I was very happy with how the fringing turned out. I haven't had a chance to try softening the fabric yet. It may make another appearance during Me Made May.

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