California Dress from Woven Fabric

Remember last month when I accidentally cut my California Dress with the stretch going the wrong direction? Though it turned out okay, that was a mistake I hopefully won’t be making again. In any case, it did give me the final push I needed to attempt the California in a non-stretch fabric and I’m happy to report that it worked well! So today I present you with my woven California!

As far as the construction details go, I didn’t change much at all. I changed the main fabric to woven, but decided to still make the arm and neck bindings from knit. The bit of stretch helps pull the openings in so they don’t gape away from my body. Like last time, I also moved the elastic waistline up to empire waist level to better flatter my body type.

The only other thing I did differently from my usual is to make the size that my body measurements fall in. I usually make one size smaller for the California Dress because I prefer a closer fit. However, I was afraid the closer fit would be too tight to get on when I eliminated the stretch factor. After wearing this version, I’m sure that was the right call. My bust and waist measure just at the size 2x, which is what size this dress is. If you measure between sizes and want to try a woven version, I’d recommend sizing up instead of down.

I wasn’t completely convinced that this dress would turn out nicely, so I bought this cheap rayon to “practice” with. The rayon drapes much more nicely than a 100% quilting cotton would. Despite the inexpensive fabric, this will be entering my regular rotation. I ordered some peach skin yesterday to make another because I love it so much!

Happy Sewing!!  ~  Joelle