Layla
Layla Dress by 5 Out Of 4 Patterns
Sometimes sewing feels like magic. Especially lately for me. I just sort of have an idea, wing it and bam, I create the dress of my imagination! My choker hack was like that. I’ve been doing a lot of laid back kind of sewing lately. It was nice to step up my game with this dress.
Because sewing isn’t always magic. Sometimes it takes work. I can make a simple dress (like the Jessie) faster than I can do laundry. And on Sunday nights, that’s exactly why I sew! But other times, I need to feel challenged. I need to feel like I improved myself or really accomplished something. Like the sewing version of a workout-high.
This is the pattern for that. I’ll be honest, do not start this dress the night before you intend to wear it! I mean, or do, you’ll be a total badass and wherever you wear it cause you’ll be like ‘dang, I just did that!’ But you might also show up with the back double stick taped together because you ran out of time LOL.
This dress is a little more time consuming than most I’ve blogged about before. It’ll be worth it though. So worth it.
Be sure to read the tutorial thoroughly. The grading on this is a little different than you might be used to. (It was new to me, I learned something!) Because of the pleats and princess seams, you’ll need to grade only the side bodice pieces (not the center front or backs). Then be sure to mark the pleats on your skirt using the size of your center front bodice, not the graded size. That way the pleats will perfectly line up to the princess seams. (That part sort of is magic, it lined up perfectly without fiddling!)
I graded a 16FBA bodice to an 18 waist/hip/skirt. I think I could have brought the waist in a bit more when I was attaching it, I’ll be honest, I skipped the step where I should have basted and tried it on. :-/ That’s the thing about 5oo4. The tutorial is amazingly well written, you just have to read it AND DO WHAT IT SAYS to be successful. Gah, someday I’ll grow out of my teenage rebellion, right? I did do all of the basting of the pleats though, I think that’s why they turned out so nice and crisp 🙂
Fortunately there is a FBA pattern piece if you need it, so one less adjustment there. Yay 5oo4! Thanks for always doing that!
You’re going to want to have your iron ready. These pleats are absolutely stunning. This dress has the quality of something you’d get at a really high end store (for me, that’s Norstrom). But you’ll want to iron as you go, and iron the pleats really good at the end.
I used liverpool fabric for the exterior of mine. It’s a nice mint polka dot, it’s out of stock, but Amelia Lane Designs has fuchsia liverpool dots that are really similar. Liverpool has good body and structure. It’s a type of double knit. So it has less stretch than other knit fabrics and tends to hold it’s shape more. The thicker fabric gives a richness to details like pleats, so it’s my favorite for showing off a structured dress. I think it’s what really makes it look expensive!
I lined the bodice with some extra ponte I had that laying around that isn’t as pretty. It has similar stretch to the liverpool so it worked well and that way I saved the remaining yard of this pretty fabric for another project. I had a 4 yard cut of this fabric to begin with and after cutting just the exterior pieces, I have just about a yard left.
Also be sure to use clear elastic in the neckline per the pattern. It will help keep it stable and looking sharp. I buy mine in bulk from amazon because it comes in real handy. I keep the roll next to my serger and just feed it into my serger while I’m sewing the two necklines together and then cut off the excess at the end. I bought this roll back when I made the Jenny pattern and I use it all the time and still have a ton left.
That’s the theme of this dress, well pressed and sharp!
I used kam snaps instead of buttons on mine. Because of the polka dots I didn’t want more round features looking out of place. Just so happened that I had the perfect matching color of Kam snaps on hand. Totally unplanned! Well, maybe it was planned when I ordered the huge variety pack so I would always have the matching color on hand! I find kam snaps to be 1,000 times faster than buttons!
I took these photos/wore this dress on Easter Sunday. It’s the perfect dress for a special spring occasion. I will save it for the charity tea party fundraiser next year, another time when dresses are expected to be fancy and springy and this meets both of those standards!
Link disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Clicking the link doesn’t change the product or price you’re shown, but I might get a small percentage towards materials for my next project. If you found this post helpful and are planning to purchase the pattern anyway, I’d really love for you to use my link.
Layla Dress by 5 Out Of 4 Patterns
