So here is the finished wrap dress! If you have followed my journey you know that I wanted to make a wrap dress inspired by the classic Diane von Furstenberg ones. So I wanted something with a slightly retro vibe, without being too literal. When I found this fabric last year I immediately felt it would be perfect for a wrap dress, since it had more body than most lycra knits plus the print has a kind of 60-70’s vibe with a slightly Pucci pastels colourway.
I have already talked in length about the process of making this dress (here, here and here) but to sum it up – I put a lot of effort into the detailing, especially on the inside where I tried to mimic techniques from real DVF dresses. I also made many adjustments to the fit as I wanted something fitted. So this dress sits more snug then the original Butterick pattern 5030.
On the original Butterick pattern the back and shoulders are much wider than on my dress, which make sense since the pattern is also made for woven fabrics. But that was not a look I wanted to go for, so basically I just kept the darts, neckline opening and the waist seam. The rest I modified quite a bit. My skirt is also shorter and less full than on the original pattern.
I really like the waist seam and the darts because they do add much more shape to the dress, especially compared to the one piece wrap dresses that are most common for the current DVF brand.
The risk of a gaping neckline is real though and hard to avoid honestly. I think it sits okay on me, but a little piece of the facing does show through. I did add a few invisible tacks to keep the facing in place and that improved the issue. The majority of the DVF dresses I tried on in the store didn’t have a separate facing, it was just folded fabric that was interfaced.
I had planned to use a collar, just like on the vintage DVF wrap dresses but decided to skip it for two reasons. First my dressing room studies of DVF dresses showed me that the collar versions also used a collar stand, which was not part of any of my wrap dress patterns. Also I ran out of fabric, so I wasn’t even able to cut a collar and try to see if it would work without a collar stand. I do love the look of collar though.
I also added cuffs more similar to the DVF ones. Butterick’s cuffs are larger and less discreet. Mine are stitched in the ditch to create a clean look.
So here you go, the finished dress. All in all I felt it was a successful project even though I had a few hiccups along the way (the sleeves being the biggest issue). All those hiccups and my assembly process is documented in my vlog about sewing a DVF inspired wrap dress.
