The second project is the sustainable knit dress. First, we made a knit t-shirt using a pattern, and we used the serger and the overlock machine to sew it together.
For the dress, we had to design it with consideration for sustainable practices and the environment. I chose to make a zero-waste knit dress. I wanted my dress design to look like a comfortable, casual beach dress. I started the dress by folding the fabric in half, and cutting an opening in the middle for the head. I used a hand rolled hem for the bottom of the dress. I folded the sleeves up to make them shorter, and sewed them in place and I used a single binding hem on the neckline of the dress. I used the other part of the fabric to make an optional belt that ties into a bow around the waist. I used the last pieces of fabric to make two large pockets and sewed them to the front of the dress.
This dress was challenging at first because It was hard to plan how the fabric will fall on a person compared to it laid on the table, or in a sketch book. I am very pleased with how the final dress looks, even if it is different from my first design idea. I like how the dress looks with and without the belt, and the layered fabric hem at the bottom gives the dress a nice dress weight and bounce. I didn’t plan to add pockets to the dress, but I had extra fabric, and I like the functionality and look it gives the outfit.
