Sinclair Valley Knit Skater Dress with half-circle skirt from Flared skirts ADD-ON, size P6, 2 yards Spoonflower modern jersey, short-sleeve, above knee length plus one inch, bodice extended 1.3 inch and no waistband, pockets modified so as not to attach to waist, “screwp neck” with cover stitching
After the success of my hot pepper dress for the PEPR conference, I obviously needed to prepare for the 2025 Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETS) conference by making a pets dress. I searched for a knit fabric with at least three types of pets, but couldn’t find anything (I found all dogs or all cats, and some other options in quilting cotton).
Spooflower.com had some nice custom options with multiple pets, but most were too cute for the look I was going for — a nice pattern for baby clothes but not the vibe I wanted. I found “Pop Art Pets” designed by Susan Faiola and showed it to my husband and he thought it was great, so I ordered two yards in Modern Jersey, my favorite Spoonflower fabric. It’s 95% polyester, 5% spandex, feels like cotton with a nice drape and takes color well. It has a bit more than 25% horizontal stretch and less vertical stretch. I have been less impressed with Spoonflower’s cotton spandex jersey, as I find it feels almost rubbery when you print it with dark colors and they fade over time. When the fabric arrived in the mail I was quite happy with it. My husband pointed out that the dog in the fabric looked a lot like a dog we know named Daisy, so after I finished the dress I borrowed Daisy to take some photos.
I chose the Sinclair Valley Knit Skater Dress with half-circle skirt from Flared skirts add-on, a pattern I have made several times. The pattern is pretty fast and easy, and fits well without much modification. It actually fits like a glove, and as this fabric has less stretch than fabrics I’ve used in the past, I decided to size up from my usual P4 to a P6. Since I omitted the waistband I extended the length of the bodice by 1.3 inch. As I have done in the past, I modified the pockets so they do not attach to the waist to prevent the waist from being distorted when I put my phone in my pocket. I also found from past experience that I prefer a neckline in between crew and scoop, so I used my usual “screwp neck” modification. The fit of the dress is just about perfect!
I sewed almost everything on my serger and then fused and cover stitched the hems with a wide cover stitch. I used the same wide cover stitch on the neck band. This is the first time I’ve ever tried to cover stitch a neck band. I took it very slowly and it came out really well. I used my regular serger foot and it was a bit tricky to see the stitches; next time I need to try one of the feet designed for cover stitching that provides more visibility (I’m sure I have multiple options in my 29-foot accessory kit, I just need to figure out which one to use).
