Black Knit Dress – Free Pattern

When I was writing about the black circle skirt I made for my youngest sister, I realized that I never wrote about my black dress. I must correct that oversight by making this post now. I originally cut and sewed the bodice to test the fit before cutting the more expensive red velvet for the Christmas dress. After a successful fit, I went ahead with that dress and didn’t finish this one until February 2021. Another element that delayed finishing was the trim I had chosen. I didn’t have enough to trim the hem of the skirt, and they didn’t have any more in the store. My genius younger sister was able to find the exact same trim online, and so we got a huge bunch of it.

So first of all, I must mention that the pattern I used was this free one from The Littlest Studio. I’ve talked about how much I love the circle skirt template and how easy it makes cutting a circle skirt. The bodice fit quite well, but there was significant gaping at the armscyes, so I added some bust darts to fix that. Then it was perfect.

As instructed in the tutorial, I sewed strips of elastic to the allowance of the bodice seams for extra stability. That little detail was amazing, and I’ll definitely remember it when making other knit clothes. Since the skirt was quite heavy, I used a wider elastic at the waist to support it better. I also cut the elastic shorter than my waist measurement, but unfortunately, I don’t remember by how much. The result was perfect for me.

I finished the neckline and armscyes by making a tiny hem with a zigzag stitch and then sewing on this elastic with double layer of gold-trimmed ruffled ribbon. It looks like silver in the picture, but it’s actually gold. Since the trim is a bit itchy, I didn’t want to put it all the way around the armscye. So I made it taper off into the fabric edge. It gives it a really cute look.

For the hem of the skirt, I first folded it up and did a straight stitch with gold thread about a half inch from the edge. Then I sewed the elastic trim underneath the edge with a straight stitch in black. The result was fantastic.

This dress turned out just like I imagined, and I absolutely love it. The fabric is soft and drapes well, the silhouette is cute and comfortable, and the skirt is so full and twirly. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of making and wearing these circle skirts. So far we have the Christmas dress, the purple velvet skirt, the green velvet skirt, the black knit skirt, and now this dress. What will be next?