Orange Wrap Dress

Schnikes today’s post covered in ORANGE!!! Lol – I had this idea come into my head that I wanted to photograph this completely awesome orange wrap dress in front of the new orange wall at my local Walmart.

News flash. There is nothing quite as humiliating / humbling as taking photos of yourself with a tripod in front of a busy Walmart. HA! But I did it, and I even found one of their orange shopping carts to use as a photo prop. Lol – but I guess in the end I actually walked away feeling a bit empowered. The fact that I was able to screw up the courage, and throw pride into the wind, for the photograph that I wanted. The very orange photograph that I wanted. Well heck, I can’t say I would have done that a year ago. I am either a) getting older like all Moms do and therefore care less what people think about me, or b) growing more self-confident in who I am as a person therefore care less what people think about me. Either way, I will take it as a win.

Make this look: BurdaStyle wrap dress #112B

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MAKE THIS LOOK: Orange Wrap Dress

Skill level: Advance beginner
Time needed: 4 – 5 hours

FABRIC SEEN IN THESE PHOTOS:

Thoughts on fabric:
I was in love with this orange voile! It does wrinkle quite a bit, so you have to know that if you are planning to sit down a lot in this dress while wearing it, you will look like a wrinkled hot mess by the end of your event. But if it is more of a standing occasion, then this is perfect! Think summer daytime wedding. It was sheer, as voile often is, so I needed to find a lining for the dress. I don’t know if you have tried the new Casa Collection spring street matte fabrics at Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores, but I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE with these fabrics. They make the absolute perfect linings, and they feel like BUTTA on your skin. The fabric is a bit more expensive than regular lining fabric, but it is so worth it for a nice dress. Especially once you add that handy 40% off coupon.

PATTERN THOUGHTS / ALTERATIONS:

- BurdaStyle wrap dress #112B (affiliate link)

I had been searching for the perfect WOVEN wrap dress for a bit, but couldn’t seem to find a style that fit all of my needs. Many woven wrap dresses are made to look loose, but I still wanted a fitted dress. I finally settled on the BurdaStyle version as I knew I could alter it to suit my needs – and looked like a relatively easy and straight forward sew. Having worked with BurdaStyle patterns in the past, I also know that their patterns tend to fit my body rather well – but I do have to grade in between sizes from bust to waist to accommodate my measurements. As always, when working with BurdaStyle patterns – remember, there is no seam allowance included. What I learned for the first time this sew around was that this does NOT include the bust darts. I always assumed that I needed to add seam allowance for darts, which might explain some pokey dart busts that needed to fixed in the past. Not so with BurdaStyle patterns, seam allowance is not included on all except DARTS! Good to know going forward.

As mentioned previously, I did have to fully line this dress to accommodate the sheer voile. By adding a full lining, it eliminated the need for front and back facings. I also shortened the sleeves, and ended removing the elastic sleeve casing and back sleeve bow. Truthfully I just ran out of fabric. But I am happy with the clean lines and more classic look that this resulted in. Furthermore, I had to sew strips of fabric together to make the waistband tie the right length, as voile is not typically 51″ in length, which added a seam in the waistband tie that I wish was not there. But I am the only person who can tell. As for the pattern, I am not sure if it is user error – but I have sewn it up twice now and both times the skirt front and back side seams did not match up. The back skirt was 2″ longer than the front. A quick hemming alteration fixed the problem – but it is worth being noted.

Mie – if you are reading this, I even changed my serger thread color to orange, and totally thought of you while I was sewing this. ha! The dress looks fantastic, and looks totally chic. I absolutely love it. After all, shouldn’t we all have some bright colored dresses in our closet to pull out for the right occasion? I think so :).

On a side note – it was quite windy the day I was taking these photos. So not only was I taking pictures in front of Walmart, but I was also trying to make sure my dress didn’t fly away with the breeze. Lol – I certainly gave someone a show that day. HA!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…

Happy sewing!