I made a TENT! (aka Tessuti's Gabby Dress)

It's been at least 18 months since I made a knit Gabby Dress - not sure why I fell off the wagon as it's a pattern that has always worked for me (in a knit). When I bought this fabric from Tessuti earlier in the week (yes, I also have a Mandy Boat Tee in this fabric and I LOVE it) I had the Marianne Dress in mind. In the back of my mind though I thought it would also look great as a big, swingy tent dress. And that's exactly what I've made!

I've put on weight since my last Gabby Dress so I made the XL this time...with a slightly bigger seam allowance than I usually sew on the overlocker. I also added 5cm to the length as the dress is quite short. Not a problem when worn in winter with tights but for summer I like this at knee length.

If you look closely you'll see there's a seam down the centre back. I probably could've cut it on the fold as the fabric was 155cm wide but it was hot and I couldn't be bothered playing around with the fabric. The stripes line up well so I'm happy. I'm calling this a design feature.

The stripes on the side seam however - whoops! I thought I was laying out the fabric so that my side seams would match but clearly that is not what I was doing at all. I think it looks OK however as the dress is not a straight dress which would make the non-matching stripes very very obvious. I'm also calling this a design feature.

The fabric has good stretch in both directions so I was able to cut the neckband against the grain. I really love how this looks!

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Pattern: "Gabby Dress" by Tessuti
Size: XL
Modifications: lengthened by 5cm
Fabric: Black Truffle Grey from Tessuti (92% Viscose 8% Spandex Jersey)
Changes for next time: none