Laura’s Kielo Wrap Dress
Now that we are finally on the lookout for some warmer weather, all I have been thinking about making is cute summer dresses. The fabric this month was giving me ALL the cool Spring/Summer vibes and was a perfect match with my vision.
I decided on the Kielo Wrap Dress. I knew that it would work really well in a cotton jersey and look super cute in this fresh pastel blue colourway. I find that this shade of cool toned blue really suits me.
The long-time subscribers of SewHayleyJane may remember that I made the jumpsuit variation of the Named Kielo pattern back in May 2021 in a beautiful leopard print and rose Lady McElroy viscose jersey, which I have loved wearing so it was an easy choice.
Whilst I have loved the jumpsuit, I made the sleeveless version and found with wear that the armscys sag and shows quite a bit of side bra, which is not the vibe I’m going for. So, with this version, I opted to add sleeves.
To make this feel summerier, I didn’t want the full-length sleeve, so I simply chopped the sleeve piece to make short sleeves. No science here, I just picked an arbitrary length that looked about right.
The pattern piece splits off on different lines depending on if you’re adding sleeves or not. It looks a bit confusing on the pattern piece so just take care that you cut the right line.
When I held the pattern piece up to me, it was sooooo long! I then realised that it is drafted for 5’8” (I am 5’4”) so I chopped off about 2.5 inches along the bottom which worked out spot-on. The dress is quite fitted through the body, but there is a vent in the back skirt to give you some extra ease of movement.
The top part of the dress comes together like a basic T-shirt pattern, with a neckband and the sleeves are inserted flat.
The straps are fully interfaced with knit interfacing which gives them a good amount of structure and hold their shape when wrapped around your body.
It is such a quick and simple make, it only took me a few hours, and I am a very slow sewist!
I sewed the whole thing on my regular sewing machine, but I used Maraflex thread, which is an absolute game changer for sewing with knit fabrics. If you haven’t tried it yet, I guarantee that you will be a convert. It looks and uses like ordinary thread, but it has elastic in it which means that you can sew with a straight stitch on your machine (I just increase my stitch length to 3mm) and you get the benefit of stretchy seams that don’t wave around and without the faff of sewing a zig-zag.
I absolutely love how this came out. I can see why this dress is such a cult favourite of the sewing community. It makes me feel really cool and stylish but is 100% secret pyjamas.
The beautiful pastel blue and cute cherry print with the t-shirt style top give relaxed vibes, but the wrap dress makes it feel dressy and sophisticated. It is perfect to dress up with sandals and down with trainers and a denim jacket.
I can already tell that this will be a firm staple in my wardrobe!