Royal Blue Burda Dress with a Twist

I am currently enrolled in the Advanced Teaching Certification Course with Burda and this was my first project to turn in. It is the Knotted Midi Dress 01/2018 #101 from Burda Style. I took the Teaching Certification Course in the Fall, and I learned so much I decided to enroll in the Advanced Course. If you are considering taking these courses, I would totally recommend it! I learned a lot and it comes with a ton of patterns to teach to your students or to keep and practice on yourself.

I love this dress! It is so comfy. I used some royal blue jersey I got in a bundle box from Fabric Mart. Have you ever bought a bundle box from them? I have ordered 3, and I have yet to be disappointed. I usually order the 6 yard fashion bundle. There are always a few fabrics that I won't generally use, but for the most part, there are some very cute fabrics included, and for $10 you can't really go wrong! I end up using the other pieces for practice or muslin fabrics.

OK back to the dress... This is a fairly straightforward project. If you are accustomed to sewing with knits, then it should be pretty easy. There are some pleats at the waist, and the twist in the front is the trickiest part. You basically sew the pleats in the 2 separate twist pieces, then sew the bottom of one, leaving a space to insert the other, then sew the bottom of the second one after it is inserted into the first.

Depending on the stretch of your fabric, this dress can either be sewn with or without the back zipper. My fabric had a 4-way stretch, so I omitted the back zipper and the neck facing pieces and added a bias strip to the neck to finish it off instead.

I finished the hem and sleeve and necklines using a double needle. I love the finished look of a double needle on knits. I love the twist detail on this dress that pulls in the waistline, and the fact that it is comfy and cute will make this dress a go-to choice in my closet!