A Stitching Odyssey: Papercut Sway Dress

I took full advantage of the last of the sunny weather recently to photograph my Sway Dress, a Papercut Patterns design which doesn't seem to be readily available anymore. If you know why that may be, please do spill the tea.

Despite a major wobble halfway through construction, during which I convinced myself that I was making a frumpy nightie, this dress turned out to be a surprise summer hit. Once I added the waist tie, the silhouette was completely transformed, giving me some rather charming vintage vibes. 

I made it in this stunning viscose sateen from Fabric Godmother's own collection and I'm seriously considering buying the green colourway too. It's a slippery little sucker to work with, but a dream to wear. To make sewing with this fabric as smooth as possible, I used a microtex needle and slightly lowered the tension on my presser foot. 

The cool thing about this dress, other than having pockets of course, is that your can wear it back-to-front with either a V or rounded neckline. I've been wearing it this way round, but should really try switching it up for a different feel. 

I made a straight size small, moving the waist tie loops higher to accommodate my short waist, and I'm really happy with the fit. Next time I think I'll pinch out 1cm from the front and back necklines so they sit as flush as can be. I'm also tempted to raise the armscye by 2-3cm as it sits quite low on me, leaving a fair bit of my bra exposed.

It's a fairly quick and easy sew, definitely satisfying to whip up on a whim. Having never cut/sewn on the bias before, I did find levelling the skirt out after letting it hang overnight to be super tedious. If you have any tips for that, I'd love to read about them in the comments!

All in all, I feel really pretty in this dress...and that's not something I say lightly.