Summery, swishy and stylish – that’s the Flounce Dress. This is an elegant and grown-up dress with lots of opportunity for making it your own by mixing and matching your fabrics or fabric direction in the different panels.
The Flounce Dress is midi-length, finishing at mid-calf (for a height of 5ft 8). It has capped sleeved that are integrated into the body and longline darts. There is a sweeping asymmetric style line dropping from the waist down to the floor. The side flounce drapes elegantly to one side creating an uneven hem line. The cap sleeve openings are generous enough that you could easily wear something underneath for a pinafore effect if you wanted to. There is the option of adding a pocket on one side.
This dress works best in something drapey. I have used two similar weight crepes for my front cover version. I love the pink and orange together and the two fabrics are similar enough to join nicely. The orange crepe (£7 / metre from Fabworks) is slightly heavier than the fushia crepe (also from Fabworks). Both hang beautifully but crumple easily.
This second version of the Flounce Dress also uses a crepe – this time in a delicious deep aubergine colour. It is a satin-backed crepe which I have taken advantage of by using the matt side for the upper part of the dress and the satin side for the flounce. I love the way the two textures work together.
The Flounce Dress also works well in a stretch fabric. I would go down a size or two depending how clingy you want to wear it. I made one size smaller than my usual for this green leopard print version.
You can use tape to stabilise the shoulders if you are using something with a lot of stretch and be sure to stay-stitch the curves of the flounce.
This sumptuous velour is from Abakhan and was £14/m. It is actually quite a stable fabric so I managed without the shoulder tape on this occasion.
And here is my statement piece! I saw these giraffes on M Rosenberg’s stand at the Knitting & Stitching show in Harrogate and couldn’t resist it. It was a pretty pricey silk crepe, but it sews and hangs like a dream.
It took some careful pattern placement to get the giraffes running up the dress but is worth it to see their full length. The back is made of a plain orange crepe that I just happened to have in my stash.
