New Look 6000: revisiting an old favourite

My family finally moved into the new house we have just finished building about four weeks ago which I'm so happy about but boy do we have a lot of stuff! I keep opening boxes that have been in storage for the last 18 months and wonder why we kept this stuff, so I'm also having a major clean out and declutter at the same time. It's so tiring and draining moving and unpacking though - I've done hardly any sewing and definitely no blogging in that time which is so unlike me.

Unpacking some clothes that had been in storage to hang in my new walk in wardrobe (I love this the most I think) I came across this dress I made in eggplant purple ponti knit from New Look 6000 that I made way back in 2011 and realised I still love this style enough to not only keep it in my wardrobe but to also make another one. So here I present version 2 of New Look 6000:

image via simplicity.com

This version is made from a black and white plaid ponte knit that I bought online from fabric.com. It is a lot thinner and more plastic feeling than I expected from a fabric described as a ponte, but I guess that's the chance you take when buying online. I had to line this with a thin black knit fabric to make sure it wasn't transparent and give it enough body to stop it clinging.

I put quite a bit of effort in lining up those horizontal stripes across the side seams and the back zipper when cutting it out, and used a million pins and the walking foot on my sewing machine to sew them up. And they all lined up on the first attempt which was a huge relief because unpicking black thread on a black knit fabric would not be fun. 

Unfortunately I placed the widest black stripe across the widest part of my butt, and with the swayback adjustment and darts on the front view the vertical stripes are all over the place but overall I'm pretty happy with how it has turned out.

I sewed this dress last weekend at a three day sewing retreat I went on with my friends from the Australian Sewing Guild. I managed to finish six garments there which was great because I haven't set up my sewing room yet and have done hardly any sewing in the last month. But because I didn't have all my sewing equipment with me on the retreat I didn't have any interfacing to use in the collar and as a result the collar is a bit floppy and folds over on its self. I may fix this one day. Or I may not (I probably won't!).

I also left off the cuff on the sleeves and just extended the pattern slightly to make it a three quarter sleeve. I love the look of that cuff, but it's nearly impossible to get a jacket or cardigan over it and it's way too cold in my office not to wear another layer over the top.

And how cute is this sewing tape brooch? Another gem that I found recently when unpacking boxes - it was a gift from a friend many many years ago.

Overall I love this dress, and hopefully it won't be another 7 years before I make another version!

And now I'm off to unpack some more boxes. I'm looking forward to the day when all the cardboard boxes are out of the house, the landscaping outside is done and curtains have magically sewn themselves and appeared on my windows!