Thursday 15 October 2015

Style Arc Franki Dress

I am a big fan of Style Arc patterns and I have had the Franki Dress/Top pattern in my pattern stash for a while now. After my recent binge shop at Spotlight where I spent over $300 in under an hour, I now have quite a selection of polyester/spandex knits just waiting to become summer dresses.




The Franki is a jersey cowl neck dress/top with slightly extended shoulder line. Hugging the neckline at the back and falling softly into a front cowl. 



Usually a size 12 in Style Arc patterns fits me well with very little alterations required. However, this was not the case with the Franki dress. I found the bodice area to be quite loose and I took the side seams in by 2cm each side from the base of the armhole, tapering to nothing at the waist line the get a nicer fit.



Then I had the opposite problem in the tummy/hip area where it was a little too tight. With only 1cm seam allowances I couldn't do much about that, other than to loose a couple of kilos which has helped immensely.



The shape of this dress is quite relaxed and not too figure hugging which I like. It is quite short though. I only turned up a 2cm hem, trying to preserve as much length as possible ( I am about 5'8")



The back neck has a stand up collar which hugs the neckline and after reading several other reviews of this pattern, I decided to interface the back collar section. This did add some body to this quite thin and very drapey knit which certainly helped to stop the collar collapsing.



The armholes were way too low and causing bra exposure. In order to fix this I shortened the armhole binding by about 20cm, which helped draw the armhole circumference in, thus raising the armhole. It is still a little low, so next time I will raise the armhole on the pattern before cutting out. I found the armhole binding to be very narrow and fiddly to apply, so I also widened mine.



The armhole extends past the shoulder line and really hugs the upper arm. This could also be more pronounced due to the tightening of my armhole binding. I chose to leave the binding exposed in an attempt to further fill in the armhole area. I top stitched the seam allowances down with a twin needle to prevent them flipping out.The armholes are not restrictive in any way though, and the dress is comfortable to wear.



The cowl at the front sits very nicely when arranged, but the minute you move there's trouble. I came up with a very effective way of getting the cowl to stay put and to totally eliminate any gaping/flashing scenarios. My solution was to sew a lingerie keeper to the centre of the cowl facing, near the raw edge, which I then clip around my bra at the centre front. I know this won't work with every bra out there, but it works like a charm with mine. It holds the cowl in position and keeps the fabric snug against your chest too.



I wore my Franki dress to work today with my Grainline Morris Blazer which felt like a good combination. I love it when a new addition to the wardrobe works well with what's already in there.



I will leave you with a parting shot of Ollie who was catching up on pats after I had been at work all day.


Happy Sewing

32 comments:

  1. The adjustments you made have given you a wonderful dress with flattering shape and colors on you!

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  2. This is really beautiful on you! All those little tweaks really make it stellar. And so cute with your bright Morris jacket!

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    1. Thanks Nakisha. I love it with my Morris Blazer too.

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  3. This dress is so pretty & flattering on you . This makes me want to try a Style Arc pattern - I've shied away because I heard their directions are sparse
    Thx

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    1. You really must try a Style Arc pattern. The instructions are brief but adequate if you have some sewing experience.

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  4. This is such a beautiful dress on you! The shape and colors look wonderfully comfortable for a summer dress :)

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    1. Thanks for your lovely comment Carrie. Hope all is well with you. I have been missing your blog posts.

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  5. That is such a nice dress and a great combo with the Morris jacket. I also find Size 12 Style Arc fits me pretty well with minimal tweaking so it's interesting that it isn't always the case.

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    1. I have just received 7 new Style Arc patterns in the post, Paola (including the Misty Jeans) and quite a few dresses. Hopefully these won't give me too many fit issues. Thanks for your comment.

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  6. I would totally wear this dress. Good heads-up on the armholes. Because, really, who doesn't want to show off their armpits? ;)

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    1. Thanks Sara. Those armholes definitely need raising.

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  7. Gosh, this dress gave you a few problems to solve - but the final results are well worth the trouble-shooting - it looks lovely.

    $300-00 in an hour beats my record - I usually manage to string that out over a couple of weeks :). quite regularly...

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    1. Thanks so much Sarah Liz. My shopping trip was a bit panicked because I had little time and had to make the most of the opportunity.I live 2 hours away from Spotlight, so I don't get there very often. In fact, most of my fabric shopping is done on the internet.

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  8. That's a really cute dress, and yes, works so beautifully with the bright blue blazer :)

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  9. Love your dress, very flattering style and colors on you. Love your Morris too!

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    1. Thanks so much Kelly. Lovely to hear from you. Hoping your recovery is going well.

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  10. You look gorgeous! I love your beautiful dress and it well matched with your jacket :) Well done!

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  11. Cute dress - all your alterations worked really well. Did you really lose a few kilos to fit this dress? If it wan't a joke please let me know how you did it!

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    1. Thanks Sue. I did lose a couple of kilo's before I could wear this dress comfortably. I don't have any great tips for losing weight. The older I get, the harder I find it. I have been cutting gluten out of my diet and going for a 5km walk about three times a week. That seems to be working at the moment.

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  12. Very pretty! The fit is great, and I love your fabric. Can't wait to see all of your new fabrics being sewn up!

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    1. Thank you Ann. I'm having fun at the moment selecting patterns to go with each piece of fabric.

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  13. This is such a lovely dress and so flattering on you. Your adjustments make it look sleek and fitted, and it would be a perfect dress for work and play. Looking forward to your next StyleArc outfit!

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    1. Thank you Sue for that lovely comment. I have just received several new Style Arc patterns so there will be many more Style Arc outfits coming up on the blog, I hope.

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  14. Your dress looks lovely on you and I love that fabric!

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    1. Thank you Andrea. I love the fabric too, now I have made it up.

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  15. I love your dress Jean! So pretty and fits you just perfectly!

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    1. Thanks for the great comment Sue. I am loving Style Arc patterns, as you do and I have a few new ones to try next.

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  16. That’s a pretty dress and I love the shade of your blazer! It looks really nice together. Thanks for sharing the tip on the armholes, too! I never like exposing too much armpit action, too!

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    1. Thanks Kayla. I was quite pleased when I realised that my blazer matched well with the dress. If I make this dress again I will raise the armhole depth before cutting out.

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