How I wore... the Kielo wrap dress

Not strictly a sewing post but a post to show you how I wore my Kielo wrap dress in a different way.  I have blogged about this dress before - shown on Diana in this post  here and as I wore it on the cruise here.

This is how I wore it out to a function last week.

 It is coming up party season so to make a dress more versatile is a good thing.  Basically I didn't wrap but tied the dress ties at the back.

I have seen people suggest tying it this way before but it has been in shorter versions and I thought I should try it out on my long version.

Really happy with this styling.  It was also very comfortable to wear.

Ciao kittens back to regular sewing posts next time.. next an Ottobre frock.

Cruised out - Kielo wrap dress again

I am back from the cruise and really enjoyed it.  A great holiday away from it all... I expected to have more clothes shots from the cruise but it didn't really happen and I only have some iphone shots of the Kielo dress in action.  (Not sure why I look so serious here... it was a good night!)

Overall the dress was perfect for the cruise.  I wore it twice - once for a formal night with black high heeled pumps and my blue-green wrap and the other night was our wedding anniversary and I took my black wrap and wore flat gold sandals.  The stretch crepe makes it a perfect travel dress - it can be rolled in a ball and put on with no ironing.  I actually prefer not to put this dress on a hanger as I am concerned the weight of the dress may stretch it out. 

I was asked by AllisonC - I'd love to see how this looks on you and whether you think it would work on someone a lot more hippy than you or your dressform as I love the style. 

I think it would work for more curves than I have - the sizing is easy as there is plenty of room in the wrap over the hips and I think the fact the dress tapers in toward the feet combined with the width of the shoulder line, will balance the hips... my thoughts anyway. 

This shot is from the formal night with my husband and my parents.  I love the saucer champagne glasses. 

 I particularly love the shape of the dress and the neckline.

I apologise for the fuzzy iphone photos, but I wanted to show the dress in action on the cruise.  I am slowly getting back to real life... finishing a WIP quilt at the moment... Ciao!

Continuing Frocktober - the Kielo Wrap Dress

Continuing the frock theme I have made my last item for my cruise... well I still have tomorrow to pack before sailing on Monday, so made in plenty of time!

I chose to make the Named Clothing Kielo Wrap Dress.  Like a few others I first saw this dress at the Sewist's High Tea.  I think Donna sold a few of us on the pattern that day.  I was concerned how it would work on me as I have not got Donna's height and the pattern is drafted for 5'8".  Well... I needed a dress to take on the cruise for one of the formal nights so with some lovely green stretch crepe in the stash, this pattern will be perfect to pack and (hopefully) to wear.

I shortened the dress for my height at two places - approximately knee height and thigh/hip height.  Apart from that the only change I made to the pattern was to sew the armholes a little higher (about an inch) as this fabric is quite heavy and pulls the dress down and I didn't want my bra strap to show.

The dress is a simple one to make (great last minute make).  Saying that though I seemed to have some difficulty - I cut and sewed the ties (laces on the pattern) three times, as I sewed them the wrong way twice before working out what I was doing wrong - folding the piece the wrong way - rookie mistake!  The only other difficulty was sewing the armhole and neckline hem,  It is folded twice and sewn with a very narrow hem.  I followed the instruction and turned and sewed twice to make it easy.  I used my walking foot and moved my needle across so it naturally sewed the fold edge while keeping the folded fabric easily under the foot.  

This is how I ma thinking of accessorising the dress.  My blue-green wrap if the evening is cool and my new tan shoes... or maybe black shoes to look more formal?  I shall let you know how it wears...

Ciao kittens, sailing on Monday so not sure when I will blog next. :)