Erica Wrap Dress and my first sewn LBD!

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter holiday yesterday!  By far, I had one of the most peaceful weekends with my family.  First we went to church on Friday evening to celebrate.  Then I had a date night out with my hubby on Saturday, and BBQ'd at home with the family on Sunday.  It was lovely!

Early on Sunday morning I decided to take pictures of my finished Erica wrap dress.  It has been completed for a few days now, but I must admit that I sometimes lag when it comes to getting sewn items photographed and up on my blog.

Once the pics were finished, I realized I didn't want to take this dress off!  So, I didn't!  It wasn't practical, but I wore it all day while prepping our Easter meal, and spending time with my kids at home.  And, it was surprisingly comfortable!!!

This is the Erica Wrap Dress by Seamworks, and I love it!! You see, this dress fills a BIG hole in my closet!! Actually, it fills two holes!  I didn't own a wrap dress (gasp), and I didn't have a Little Black Dress (double gasp) either.  That was the very thing on my mind as I began this project.  How could this have happened?  But as I searched through my wardrobe items, I realized I had neglected this staple for a while. 

Well, I can now see why wrap dresses are so beloved!  For this one I sewed a size S for the bodice and a S graded to a M for the skirt.  I did a 3/8" Forward Shoulder Adjustment, though I think I can get by with a 1/4 instead.  I also lopped off about 8 inches from the original pattern design below:

Though the length looks a bit similar, trust me it is not.  The original pattern is described as hitting you mid calf.  My final version hits right at the knee for me.  

I used a rayon jersey knit and it had such a beautiful drape to it that I thought it would lend perfect to this design.  Also, the medium weight of the knit gave me no issues while sewing it.  The instructions were very easy to understand.  My only errors with the facings were due to myself, lol!  I had to redo them twice because I finally figured out that my seams were not lining up with the bodice pieces because I had not adjusted the facings for the Forward Shoulder Adjustment.  Ah-ha!

The only other change I made was how I finished the front left and right skirt edges.  I didn't want to turn and stitch them so I decided to do a narrow hem finish.  It worked well, and didn't add a lot of weight or bulk to the seam.  In hindsight I probably could have serged the edges, then turned and stitched them.  I am happy my method worked out. I was just going for a nice clean finish in case you get a view of that area while the dress is being worn (and you do at times).

I do have a sewing confession for this dress: halfway through constructing it I ran out of thread! Did I head to Hobby Lobby? No, not at all!  Instead I finished the dress with a dark navy.  So, if you get close up to the seams, you can see the pop of navy, and it makes me smile!  I did get a chance to go to Hobby Lobby late last week, and I DID stock up on black thread.

Speaking of black, I never knew how hard it was to get details to show when you photograph it.  I mean, I have read of people having issues with that, but I guess I haven't sewn a lot of solid black for the blog EVER, lol!  I wanted to include some more photos of the inside, but feared it would all look like one big blanket.  You don't want to see that!

Instead, I will say that this dress is awesome!  The fit is wonderful, and the only change I would make for the next time is to add a fastener at the neckline so there is the option of wearing it without the tank underneath.  

Before I go, I have one more exciting thing to share! If you keep up with Instagram, you may have seen that the #sewtogetherforsummer item is......a WRAP DRESS!  Last year I worked so hard to try and finish up my shirt dress, and missed the deadline entirely.  Somehow, this year God has smiled on me and allowed me to finish my wrap dress right when I can enter it! In fact, my entry will be EARLY, lol!  I am giddy, and can't wait to see what others will sew up!  You can find more info about this sewing challenge HERE.

Since this dress is the only item I finished for March, I don't think a re-cap will be needed.  But, spring sewing is ON!  I will be cutting out spring patterns this week, and take off from there.  Here is a refresher of what I have chosen:

Let's get it!

Stay sew-filled!