Saturday Sewing Projects: Plaid Dress & Red Ikat Dress

Most of my Saturday afternoon and evening was spent sewing up these two dresses. Both patterns are from the Hooray! Japanese pattern book pictured on the left. The fabric was purchased at the spring Bolt sale. The plaid pullover sundress was a very quick project. It has French sleeves and a gathered skirt. For the bodice, the fabric is going against the grain while the skirt is going with the grain. I think it's a nice subtle detail. The red ikat dress has a deep V neck, drawstring waist and gathered sleeves at the wrists. Initially, the drawstring was at my hip and I ripped out the channel and moved it up to be closer to my waist. Both of these patterns ran very big. I took in the side seams on the plaid dress, but made no modifications to the ikat dress. It's probably too big, but I sort of like the loose fit, especially styled with pants or jeans underneath.