Tuesday 10 November 2015

A Firework Style Arc Kate Dress

The Style Arc Kate Dress has been around for quite a while and there are many lovely versions out there in blogland, which I have been admiring. I am happy to say that I have finally got around to trying the pattern and I have not been disappointed.


From the Style Arc website: "KATE DRESS: Fabulous versatile wrap dress – easy to wear, great for any occasion."
This is a perfect description for this classic style, and the pattern has met all my expectations.

Style Arc Kate Dress

This fabric was purchased recently in my binge shop at Spotlight (Queanbeyan). It's a poly/spandex knit in a very busy print called firework. I wanted to try this dress in a busy print because I was worried that all my lumps and bumps would be very obvious in a solid colour. I think the print has worked well camouflaging my problem areas, so that was a win.


The fabric requirement for this dress is 3 metres at 150cm wide. I only had a little over two metres of the firework fabric, so by using a creative cutting layout and shortening the sleeves to 3/4 length I was able to eke it out of the fabric available. I did have to cut the back piece out running in the opposite direction to the front pieces, but this is not a directional print and I don't think it is noticeable.


I tried to position the pattern pieces so that there was no unfortunate print placements and I am pretty happy with the outcome. I did make a few small changes to the design after conducting quite an extensive amount of internet research. The general consensus was that this pattern runs extremely long. I'm sure I read somewhere that Style Arc have shortened this pattern recently. I only purchased my copy recently and I only had to shorten it by 3cm. 


I was not keen on the belt tying at the back. I thought it looked a bit too young for a woman of my age. I lengthened the ties so that they would go right around me and tie at the front...a much more grown up look, in my opinion. I found the ties were positioned a little above my waistline, so next time I will lower the waistline by about 3cm. To be fair, the line drawing is quite accurate and shows the ties to be quite high and this would probably work quite well if they were tied at the back. The tucks at the waistline on the outside front piece were extremely fiddly to sew in this slippery knit and I did rather a sloppy job of it. Thank heavens for the busy print, this is not too noticeable. Next time I might try eliminating the tucks by cutting two of the under front pieces, which others have done with success.


 I absolutely love this neckline. It's quite modest and workwear appropriate and just sits beautifully. The pattern suggests sewing rubber swimwear elastic (clear elastic) to the neckline, turning over and stitching. I elected to make my own binding out of some white cotton/lycra.


I cut a strip of binding approx 5cm wide and a similar length to the neckline. I folded it in half  lengthwise and pressed. Then I overlocked the binding to the right side of the neckline (using 10mm seam allowance), stretching the binding a little as I sewed. I then cut off the excess length of binding, turned the binding over the seam allowance to the inside and secured with a twin needle. This has created a nice snug neckline with no gaping issues.


The wrap edges of the front pieces were secured with some Bondaweb Iron on Adhesive and then stitched down with a twin needle. The hem was turned up twice at 1.5cm and secured with a twin needle. I often have problems with skipped stitches when sewing poly knits, but this one behaved quite well.

Notes for next time:

  • Lower waistline by 3cm.
  • Lengthen waist ties to reach right around waist.
  • Remove 3cm from hemline.
  • Cut two left fronts (one pair) to eliminate waist tucks.
  • Use binding on the neckline.


As you can probably tell, I love my new Style Arc Kate Dress. It feels so comfortable and so feminine to wear. I already have some fabric in the stash ear marked for future Kate's.

Happy Sewing

40 comments:

  1. Very pretty! Such a fun print. :-)

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    1. Thanks Debbie. I bought this fabric in one of those panicked fabric shopping trips where time was very short. I did have second thoughts later, but I am quite happy with the outcome in this dress.

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  2. Lovely dress! I expect to see lots more of these.

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    1. Thanks so much Manju, and I think you may be seeing more versions of this dress on the blog soon.

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  3. Absolutely fabulous dress on you!

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  4. You've created a beautiful dress. I agree the neckline looks great on you.

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  5. You were totally right to move the ties to the front. I'm also sometimes obsessive about rearranging cutting layouts to maximize yardage. Way to go on cranking this out in almost a yard less than suggested!

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    1. Thanks Sara. I was really pleased to be able to get this cut out with the little fabric I had. Style Arc don't actually give you a cutting layout, so this is something you have to work out for yourself anyway.

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  6. You look lovely in this dress and did very well with the pattern placement. Those fireworks could be rather unfortunate in the wrong place!

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    1. I am glad I paid attention to the positioning of those fireworks. It could have been disastrous. Thanks for your comment.

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  7. You look great in your Kate - glad you are as happy with it as I am with mine. Interesting that Style Arc has drafted this shorter than originally drafted. I would have to chop off at least 15cm to get anywhere near my knee in the version I have.

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    1. Yes Paola, I am loving this pattern and I have plans for more. Yours was very elegant with the longer length...you must have an older version of the pattern.

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  8. So lovely - great job. I bought this fabric too. I have a gabby dress in mind for mine.

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    1. Thanks Emma. I look forward to seeing what you make with this fabric.

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  9. Love your new dress! You did a beautiful work on the neckline, pretty fabric choices and you look great :)

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  10. This is just lovely. Great fabric and thanks for the tip about the neckline. I have this pattern and really must get it made after seeing yours.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a lovely comment. I'm glad I have inspired you to get this made.

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  11. I love your dress! I like the pattern you chose for this, too. I used to wear a top with a similar neckline but it always tends to show something more than I bargained for. Yours sits really firmly in place, was it the lycra that helped to keep it in place?

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    1. Thanks so much, Kayla. I think the binding on the neckline definitely works to tighten it and eliminate any gaping. This could be done equally well with self fabric. I only used the cotton lycra due to a fabric shortage in the firework print.

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  12. Jean, your dress is beautiful and you look stunning in it! I keep eyeing this dress and will have to break down and buy it.

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    1. I can't wait to see your version Sue! Thanks for your very kind comment.

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  13. This is amazing. So beautiful in this gorgeous fabric, and such a nice fit. Thanks for all the tips on the neckline & tucks and so on. It certainly worked for you. Beautiful.

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    1. Thank you Melwyk. This is such an easy pattern that produces a great result. You should give it a go.

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  14. Amazing post! You have a wonderful blog:)
    What about following each other on Instagram, Bloglovin, Twitter?..

    www.bloglovin.com/blog/3880191

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  15. This turned out really lovely. I really like the fabric and it fits beautifully.

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    1. Thanks Andrea. I really love this pattern and I can't wait to try it out again.

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  16. Gorgeous dress, love the print and the style.

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    1. Thanks Sharon. This has become a favourite dress...I must make some more with short sleeves for the summer.

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  17. beautifull Dress
    please my blog too. you will love this
    Best Happy Birthday Gift

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