Gloria Dress

Somehow when I am deciding what pattern to buy for a specific item of clothing, 5 out of 4 patterns sends out a tester call for the pattern in question. It happened last year for joggers, and now it happened again for a straightforward knit dress. I am so happy that I had time to devote to pattern testing this dress, because I love it and will likely use it regularly.

The Gloria dress is a super versatile knit dress pattern or top with a skater skirt (or peplum). There are options for sleeveless, short sleeved, long sleeved and everything in between. There are also split sleeve options and hi-lo hem options, which I am excited to explore in the future. There are 2 neckline options, high and low, and I chose the high neckline option for both of my dresses. I didn't need to use the full-bust adjustment pattern piece that is included in the pattern, but if you are large-busted, this is perfect for you!

First up I made the short dress version with elbow-length sleeves. As usual, I had to blend a lot of sizes to get the right fit. I used size large for my shoulders and sleeves, medium for the bust, and between a medium and small for the waist. I originally planned to make the longer dress version, but I looked like a Mormon, which was not the look I was going for. I shortened it to the short dress length and that is likely the one I will use for most of the dresses using this pattern. This dress turned out exactly as planned, and I love it. It definitely gets the #secretpyjamas classification.

My second dress I whipped up in an evening - it took less than 2 hours. I opted for the sleeveless version in this case, and am very happy with it overall. My biggest problem is I attached clear elastic to the waistline, and that went extremely poorly (obviously not the pattern's fault). To fix it I had to do a bunch of re-attaching of the skirt to the bodice, and while I tried to fix the hem so that it looked straight, I didn't do a great job. When I wore it to the Good Friday service I only got compliments on it, and my lovely friend Amy said that it wasn't very noticeable, and if it was it looked deliberate. Needless to say I will be more careful in the future.

Details

Pattern: Gloria Peplum and Dress by 5 out of 4 patterns
Material: Both discount knits from Fabricville - $3/m! Yay $5 dresses!
Modifications: Size L for shoulders/arms, size M bust, size M/S waist, added 1.5 inches in length to the bodice, graded out to a L for the skirt.
Learning: I still need to figure out the best way to attach elastic to the waist, but I learned some things to avoid! Mostly accidentally slicing the elastic with the serger blade.