Coco Dress in Jersey Knit for March's MAGAM

Early in March, I posted my MAGAM plans on Instagram. The theme for March is MAD March, which stands for make a dress...something. I decided to make a TNT pattern for me... the Tilly and the Buttons Coco Dress with a few modifications to make it a little different.

Modifications made were: to reduce the flare of the skirt, add vertical darts to the back and to add half circle cuffs to the 3/4 length sleeves. 

The addition of vertical darts in the back give a nice fit and take away from any sack like silhouette. I always reduce the flare of the skirt because I feel it's a bit too flared. I have narrow hips and the narrower skirt looks better on my shape.

I decided to use this lovely poly/spandex jersey print that I bought online from Knitwit in their summer sale. It must have sold out, as I can't see it on their site today. This is not the stable ponte or double knit that is the suggested fabric for this pattern, however, it worked out fine.

I used the circle skirt calculator from By Hand London to draft the half circle cuffs for the sleeves. This was really easy to do and I love the effect. The half circle additions to the sleeves are only a single layer and I opted to leave them unhemmed (raw edge) after experimenting with some scraps. I was never going to be able to hem that curved edge neatly and the wrong side would be on show. I would have self faced the half circle cuffs, but unfortunately there was not enough fabric left for that option.

It has been fun to get back into some selfish sewing, after making some shirts for my son. I'm pretty happy with how this dress turned out and I am realising that I gravitate to wearing dresses much more than separates, so maybe I should concentrate on making more dresses.

Happy sewing

Jean