Sewing Bee Round 3: Two-Knits Winter Dress

I'm still here! From a total of 56 participants in round 2, we are now down to 25. To be honest, I seriously thought that I was going to be eliminated after seeing the amazing entries from the others. 

For this challenge, we were asked to use the Winter Street Dress pattern  from the Pattern Review website and put our spin on it using only two knit fabrics.

I went through my fabric stash and decided to pair this beautiful printed rayon jersey with a solid black one.

The bold stylized print reminded me of the iconic DVF wrap dresses and it inspired me to put a "wrap" spin on my garment.

To the original bodice, I topstitched a V-neck overlay consisting of two overlapping fabrics.

After sewing the shoulder seams, I attached the neckline binding with the binding turned towards the wrong side hence acting like a facing. 

I kept the box pleat design on the skirt but lined it with the solid black jersey.

I chose the 3/4 sleeve option minus the flounce and opted for modified cuff finish on the hem.

And the final touch was the fabric tie belt. 

I constructed it in such a way that the print fabric was on the back and the solid black on the front to offer relief from the solid black on the back and overall print on the front, respectively. I made sure to use interfacing to add body and structure to the belt.

Here's the finished garment.

Dressy enough for Church.

Cool enough for winter!

I didn't drastically change the pattern as I wanted to retain some of its features. I chose to enhance it and I'm quite happy I came up with a dress I wouldn't hesitate to wear in public!