Greetings
There is viscose and there is viscose. I am wearing viscose, more specifically Poppy Abstract Stretch Viscose from Mood Fabrics.
Upon reading the website’s fabric description as “wonderful for wrap dresses reminiscent of DVF,” I placed a quick order and found the description quite accurate.
What is Viscose, you asked? For the scientific definition click here. Viscose, often labeled rayon is a regenerated cellulose fiber resulting somewhere in between a natural and synthetic fabric. I made my dress from a Viscose Jersey, knitted with 4% elastine.
Viscose quality can vary, but this viscose is cream of the crop
My pattern is Vogue 8379, a wrap dress pattern I’ve sewn twice before. I briefly considered sewing a new pattern, but reached for the TNT since I like this pattern for so many reasons.
1. Notice the pleated bodice in the sketch below. The pleats provide a beautiful fit in the bust without pulling or gaping.
No pins or fashion tape are needed to keep this garment in place!
2. The separate skirt and bodice pieces assure a great fit!
3. The combination of the 81″ (207 cm) skirt sweep and weight of the viscose were a good match.
When handled with care, viscose jersey is not difficult to sew.
Two years ago I bought the Craftsy class Sewing With Knits . In spite of not finishing the class or even making one of the five featured patterns, I learned a great deal from the instructor Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated. The class focuses on sewing knits without a serger. Meg gives a detailed lesson about the importance of machine needles to use when sewing with knits.
For this dress I used a Stretch needle.
She also demonstrates how to finish a seam (neckline I believe) by trimming it close to the stitching line, I applied this advice to the hem of my dress.
I stabilized the hem, by applying a 1 1/2″ strip of Mood Fabric’s Marshmallow Polyester Weft Knit fusible interfacing along the lower edge.
Next the hem was folded along the upper edge of the interfacing.
After stitching a 1″ hem, I trimmed extremely close to the stitching line before finishing with an additional row of stitching.
The result is a beautiful flat hem with absolutely no buckling or ripples,
and a dress ready to greet our long awaited Spring.