You guys, I think it’s going to be a good day. I’m wearing my stare-at-me-you-SOOO-wish-you-could-pull-these-off boots:
And even better, Community is finally back on the air. It’s definitely going to be a “six seasons and a movie” kind of day. [IMPORTANT: I have not watched last night’s episode yet. Do NOT tell me what happens! You spoil my Community and I will SPOIL YOUR FACE.]
So Selfish is feelin’ fine today. Not cheerful or sweet or generous, of course, but ever so slightly less vindictive than usual. One might even say that I am feeling fair. So I’ll make you a deal. You help me out, and I will divulge valuable information that I have thus far been keeping to myself out of pure selfishness. K?
K. You help me first, obviously. There’s an odd little boutique right near our apartment that seems to be open only by appointment (i.e. it’s NEVER open), and always has the most magnificent Issa silk jersey dresses displayed in the window. They recently switched the featured dress to an absolutely drool-worthy candy striped confection with a cowl neckline. I snapped a pic last night with my phone, which doesn’t do it justice:
As you may know, Selfish is fairly new to sewing drapey (i.e. non doubleknit) knits. But she wants her own version of this dress rather desperately. The stripes are throwing me though, as it’s not obvious to me whether the stripe print runs vertically on the jersey, or diagonally, and what’s cut on the bias versus the straight grain. If this were a woven, I feel fairly sure that the bodice front would have to be cut on the bias in order to achieve that drapey waterfall neckline. And yet as I poke around the internets, it seems like it is possible to achieve that neckline drape with a knit fabric cut on the straight grain. Yes? No?
If the stripe print is vertical, that means that the skirt is cut on the bias and everything else is cut on the grain. Wouldn’t this make the skirt rather prone to growing in length over time?
If the stripe print is diagonal, then the bodice, sleeves, and waist wrappy things are cut on the bias, and the skirt is cut on the straight grain. Are bias cut sleeves even a thing with drapey knits? Has anyone done that?
Okay, collective human sewing brain- what gives with this? What’s going on here? And even more importantly, where could I find a fabulous diagonal or vertically striped knit fabric? Silk jersey would be great, but I’d settle for ITY knit. NOW ANSWER ME.
Well, that’s about it for today. Catch you later. Oh wait, what are you saying? I promised you some important secret sewing info? Sigh, fine. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain. But only because I have that episode of Community to look forward to later and it’s keeping me “amiable.”
Remember the insane South Park silk chiffon I told you about the other day? Well, the only reason I even noticed that bizarro fabric is because it was in the same eBay store as another extremely covetable fabric of which I purchased 3 yards. That’s right- I knew that the eBay store had a ridiculous fabric as well as one that you’d probably really really want if you knew about it, so naturally I told you only about the former and kept the latter a secret. Even though I knew there was plenty of it left for you. It’s all part of my plan to keep myself gorgeously garbed while the rest of you traipse around wrapped in South Park and jealousy. Serious bitch move, and one that I’m proud of. But, since you’re helping me out with the striped jersey issue, here you go:
Yep, it’s Marc Jacobs silk crepe de chine, 45″/114 cm wide, in oh-so-trendy bird print, going for a pretty reasonable $14.99/yard. And I love that little teal blue bird with the purple cap. He’s definitely my favorite. Here’s what Mr. Jacobs did with the fabric:
This print made appearances in the Marc Jacobs 2010 resort collection. I haven’t received my fabric yet so I can’t say anything about it regarding quality, but I have high hopes and big plans.
So there you go. Feel free to express your undying gratitude below.
[UPDATE: Wow, you guys bought that up that Marc Jacobs fabric fast. Here’s the link to a new listing for more of it.]
[UPDATE #2: Well, my greedy little monsters, looks like you have bought it all up and there’s no more left! Good job!]
[UPDATE #3: And it’s back! Get it while you can!]
The Selfish Seamstress 
46 comments
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March 16, 2012 at 9:06 am
LinB
Thank you!
March 16, 2012 at 9:24 am
Karen Kelly
Thank you. I feel sort of bad, though, since I haven’t a clue where to get that striped fabric and it looks to me as if the wrap around waist is attached and part of the garment. Can you break into the store to see how it’s constructed. Who cares if the store isn’t opened? And it reminds me of a much fuller version of this dress, pattern found on ebay for 2.50, which I plan to make. Those big drapey necks don’t look all that good on me.
http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Butterick_9029
March 16, 2012 at 9:28 am
Amy
I can’t tell you where to buy the fabric, but if I had to guess, I think that the stripes on the knit run along the grainline. Yes, you can make a lovely draped cowl by cutting knits on the straight of grain – assuming that the knit has a lovely drape on its own. If the knit is heavy, there may be some stretching of the hemline if the skirt is cut off grain. However, if the knit is lightweight and/or has about 30% stretch or less, it shouldn’t be too bad. Lycra in the fiber content helps, too. Storing the dress flat can also help reduce how much the skirt droops. Judging by the cut of the skirt, the front skirt panel is an asymetric shape – the right side of the dress (as seen in the photo) seems like the stripes are running up and down, but diagonally on the left side. A pattern with a kinda-sorta similar front panel piece might be Vogue 8631.
March 16, 2012 at 9:57 am
M-C
Stores never open? Really? Are you in France ;-)?
Seriously, I can confirm that cowl necks work just fine in knits on the grain, no problem at all.
I’d guess vertical stripes. Yes, the bodice and skirt are contradictory. But you could also see that someone would think bias skirts are great (although they’d be a bit too revealing in a drapy knit imho, but nobody asked me). What sways me over is the sleeves. You’d have to have a very good reason to cut sleeves off grain, they’d hang really funny in a knit if the grain wasn’t totally straight (guess how I know..).
As to the fabric, thanks for trying, but it looks even more 80s than the South Park to me, I had so many shirts with those bright colors blotches on black backgrounds, eeeck! It’s true what they say about not revisiting history.
March 16, 2012 at 10:01 am
sallie
i also think the stripes run along the grain. I think the skirt is cut along the vertical grain, but agree with amy that it is an asymmetrical shape. it looks to me like the stripes run vertical on the right side of the skirt and then become diagonal from the gathering at the waist. I think the same is true for the waist – cut on the lengthwise grain, possibly asymmetric and become diagonal due to the pleating.
March 16, 2012 at 10:05 am
Laura
Here are my thoughts … the dress really isn’t a cowl neck but a draped neck. A cowl technically has an additional funnel or circular neck piece sewn in; Pam from Off The Cuff has some great tutorials on how to make a cowl neck. As I mentioned though this a draped neck, the pattern I’ve seen like this neckline look like a dart should be in the neckline, but it is not sewn causing the pool of fabric. The stripes are running parallel to the selvage of the fabric. The waist piece is a wrap of course, and the skirt is done at an angle, more of a bias cut. Do you know for sure this is a knit dress? This can be done with any light weight fabric, but would need to be light weight to get the drape on the neck. You could morph some patterns for this also, looking for the draped neck, with a bias skirt … food for thought there.
Pam’s …. Off the Cuff
March 16, 2012 at 10:16 am
Kay Young
I will attempt to curry your favour with a seriously reasoned response.
Clues: The fluid knit makes it unnecessary to cut the cowl on the bias, but this can’t be ruled out. If the bodice is bias, so are the sleeves. The skirt is asymmetrically draped, but the piece is more or less rectangular (because the stripes are more or less at the same angle across the front). Even with the draping, the skirt piece would fit across a 150 cm width of knit fabric.
Answer: While a rectangular skirt piece would also fit diagonally on the fabric, it would be more economical for a manufacturer to cut the bigger pieces straight and put smaller pieces on the bias. Further, the large skirt piece would be more stable in the length if cut on the straight. I conclude that the stripes are probably printed at an angle.
Help for Selfish: YOU aren’t a manufacturer. YOU are tiny and YOUR skirt wouldn’t pull all out of shape with heaviness. Find stripes YOU like and cut out YOUR dress any which way you want!
March 16, 2012 at 10:17 am
Gilly
I would say the stripes are on the straight and that they achieved the drape along a straight cut. See the direction of the stripes out on the shoulders? That would mean that the sleeve “holes” are cut looking like they are facing downwards and the shoulder seam is parallel to the selvedges of the fabic. You should be able to achieve this effect by doing a cut and spread from the side part of the front neckline to points along the sleeve hole. Then fan the cuts out until the shoulder seams are parallel to the selvedges.
It is a lovely dress. Love the waist wrap detail.
March 16, 2012 at 10:19 am
Tanit-Isis
I’d agree with the others, the stripes probably run on the straight-“grain”. Assuming it’s a 4-way stretch knit, I don’t know that cutting parts on the bias (or semi-bias) and others straight or across would make *that* much of a difference (although I’m pretty sure I’d want to allow some serious hang-time before finishing the bottom of the skirt)
You can keep your birdy print, but I will be totally jealous of those shoes. I would be jealous of the fact that you can wear them already, too, but we’ve had some obscenely nice weather this week. Which probably means it will bilzzard all through April, but anyway…
March 16, 2012 at 10:22 am
selfishseamstress
Today’s the first day that I’ve dared to wear an open toe. The boot-ness is keeping the rest of my foot warm :) But psssst:
http://www.ninewest.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-ninewest-Site/default/Search-Show?q=lauford
You can have them too!
March 16, 2012 at 10:20 am
Jennifer
I think the sleeves are cut in the regular way, i.e. the grain is running along the center of the sleeve. But the print of the stripe looks irregular, it is probably generally in the direction of the grain but it seems to angle in places, too. For example there is a pale beige looking stripe on one sleeve that wraps about the arm a little. So this would mean the cowl is cut pretty much on grain as well which does work fine in light weight knits. I’d think the skirt is also pretty much cut on grain but something in the waist gathers of the construction is leading to the diagonal drape of the skirt. I’m thinking the hem is actually fairly straight cross grain. Look at the areas of pale blue. You can spot the same bit of print in several places. Once on the lower right of the picture the pale blue is nearly vertical and it’s nearly identical on the opposite sleeve. But on the left side of the picture there is the same blue stripe and it’s more diagonal angling toward the waist drape. Although knits aren’t cut on the bias as often as wovens it can really enhance the drape of a knit, too.
March 16, 2012 at 10:30 am
selfishseamstress
Yes! I was starting to come to the conclusion that this is the case- the stripes are straight in some places, but slanting in others. And they never get to the point of being a true bias diagonal.
This similar Issa dress seems to lend credence to the theory:
March 16, 2012 at 10:28 am
Julia
If the stripes are not printed, there is a way to find out for certain, you *just* have to get really close to the fabric: if the borders of the stripes are absolutely straight (?), they are vertical. If they a tiny little bit ragged, they are diagonal. since it is knit (and you do knit, don’t you?) imagine three stitches in a scarf that will form a very narrow stripe each over a knitted scarf, for example. if you want these to have different colors, you would need to switch the stitches knit in a particular color from row to row towards the right (or left) if you wanted the stripes to become diagonal. here is an example (there are no stripes, but you’ll get it): http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwbis11/PATTmoose.php
March 16, 2012 at 11:22 am
Pauline
Simplicitly pattern 2145 would be a good start.
March 16, 2012 at 11:25 am
Katell
i have the final answer i guess : this fabric is printed weird !! Look at what i found on the internet
http://fabstarimage.blogspot.com/2011/04/looking-for-easter-party-casual-or-work.html
The stripes are not straight ! One thing is for certain, do not cut your sleeves other than on the grain.
And I guess that the front panel is in fact cut on the bias, never mind if it streches, when you buy a dress for more than 500 £, you probalby can afford a new one when the later no longer looks good !
March 16, 2012 at 11:28 am
Pauline
Oops, I forgot to add the link!
http://sewing.patternreview.com/Patterns/48589
March 16, 2012 at 12:03 pm
desertnails8
I look forward to seeing the dress you make.
March 16, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Janimal
I got my first order from Gorgeous Fabrics last night after reading about it on your blog. OMG its freaking gorgeous. Pucci print loveliness. And today you show off this bird print. Wow.
I would hate you for having such impeccable taste and forcing me to spend my money on the fabrics you show off and I covet – but you are a Community fan and that show makes me so happy I just can’t be that mad at you.
March 16, 2012 at 12:16 pm
leahfranqui
Troy: You can yell at me all you want. I’ve seen enough cartoons to know that piercing the BACK of a rowboat makes it go faster.
Abed: The Cape is premiering!
Britta: Humanity is premiering you jag!
I love Community. I love it so much that when people say they don’t watch it my brain hurts, just a little bit. And I would never spoil that for you, even if you are mean and dangle bird printed silk in front of me like a beautiful glamorous JERK.
I have no stripes for you. Find it yourself. And I would kill someone for those boots. You are lucky we live far apart.
March 16, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Lauriana
Yes, you can definately make a draped/cowl neckline with the fabric cut on the straight grain when using a drapey knit. So, it could be that (especially if the fabric has the same stretch lengthwise as widthwise) the bodice is cut on the straight grain. However, that would mean the skirt would be cut off grain which is possible in a light-weight knit but might yet cause warping or sagging. So, my guess would be that the stripes are printed diagonally to the grainline.
March 16, 2012 at 1:37 pm
ahlliaelf
I fall in the “Diagonal Stripes” camp — with the note that the stripes are printed not at a 45 degree angle, but closer to 30.
Reasoning: the skirt falls nicely with the stripes running as they are. The left sleeve (as we’re looking at the picture) shows a dominant cream stripe running diagonally, but the sleeve seems to hang well. The right sleeve, with the dominant white stripe along the edge seems to spiral some — I can just see a fold at the wrist and most of the underarm seam. What really got me was that the cowl fold –isn’t– folding nicely. If that drape was parallel to the grain (which it would be if the stripes were ongrain), the entire top edge should be one smooth fold. To me, the options are a) the cowl is purposely twisted or b) the cowl is cut off-grain but not on the bias so the stripes will visually run vertically — think about what happens when you try and fold a woven off grain. The center fold gets all kinds of wibbly.
So that’s my theory. Everything but the bodice cut on grain, with a less than 45 degree diagonal stripe.
March 16, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Dei
So glad to see your back and in rare form. Bartering for kindness. Ingenious!
The stripes are on the diagonal and the cowl and other pieces are cut on the straight grain. The sleeves as well as the greater stretch is the cross-grain.
To decipher the cowl, simply take a square of paper and draw diagonal stripes. Fold two opposite points together, now turn the folded edge up. Stripes are now vertical and that folded edge, fabric wise, would drape and be your cowl. To see it in action, do the same with a scarf and notice how the two points attached at the shoulder with the folded edge at the neck allow the cowl to drape. Make sense?
March 16, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Claire (aka Seemane)
Would any of these (European/UK sellers) fabrics do maybe – all a straight-stripes (not at an angle)?
Jersey striped fabric eBay Item #’s:
300675514595,
300676245402,
170596706127,
400133765584,
110672835134,
110642217487,
110709176301,
140484282541,
140537622943 (didn’t do links to them – too many links and my comment would edn up in the spam folder)… just cut and paste the #’s into eBay’s search box :)
March 16, 2012 at 2:24 pm
redsilvia
I would stalk the store on the internet until I found an phone number and made an appointment/broke in and tried the dress on. Then you’d know for certain. No one would ever suspect a bird wearin’ burgler.
ITY would be good fabric to make a toile from, but then I’d find a nice silk jersey when the kinks got worked out.
March 16, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Melody
Do you know the book, Twinkle Sews, by Wenlan Chia? The stripe looks
like the one used in the dress on the back cover, but in a different colorway. In the book it says that most fabrics are available through http://www.twinklebywenlan.com —- although, the book has been out for awhile.
March 16, 2012 at 2:38 pm
DeDe
I think this dress is very close to the Your Style Rocks “Eva”. If you lengthen the sleeves, widen the midriff which is cut on an angle, and add the sash– you have it. BTW, it’s free!!
http://yourstylerocks.com/
March 16, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Guilty as charged! « Stitch and Witter
[…] the manipulative advances of the suspect. Selfish Seamstress not only extolled the virtues of the fabric in question by presenting salacious images of handbags, summer dresses and other fripperies, she also presented […]
March 16, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Karen Mueller
I’ve been looking for some fabric to work with this
http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6507-products-16289.php?page_id=96
and the MJ bird fabric looks like it will do the trick. Thanks for pointing it out.
March 16, 2012 at 3:34 pm
selfishseamstress
Whoa- that’s what I was planning on making with it too. I ordered the pattern off of eBay a couple of days ago! Twinsies!!
March 16, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Karen Mueller
Jinx! (is that just what we say in Canada or does everyone say it?)
If i can finish mine by July I’ll consider that a victory… hope you show yours to give me some motivation
March 16, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Lise
I’m sure that dress will be lovely on you, but it would look horrendous on my size-four-but-I’ve-had-children body. However, I’ve worked with one of the actors is who on Community and he was lovely. So there’s that.
March 16, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Nancy Karpen
There is no true bias in a knit fabric. The only reason to cut it on the bias or diagonal is to change the direction of the stripes, which I also think are on the straight grain. But, if the fabric has stretch in both directions it could be on on the cross grain. The silk jerseys I’ve seen don’t generally have lycra and thus don’t have a great deal of stretch and usually almost none on the straight grain. You can play around with how the stripes run just adding more ease if you are running the less stretchy direction around the body.
March 16, 2012 at 5:00 pm
T. Sedai
Ok, well, with the knits it sort of depends on if you have 2-way or 4-way stretch, and if it is only 2-way is the stretch on the straight or cross grain (yes, I have seen it both ways, and yes, it used to boggle the mind, but now I just deal with the fabric as it comes…). Anyway I have to say that you can get a draped cowl neck with a knit on a straight grain (I’ve done it with McCall’s top 6078), and really the important bit is to get the sleeves so the stretch goes around the width of the arm and not along the length of the arm. Assuming 2-way stretch on a crossgrain, then the stripes would be running mostly vertical with the grain of the fabric (possibly a slight diagonal – hard to tell because of the way the sleeves are positioned). It looks like the stripes themselves do not maintain uniform width (you can see on the top bodice section how some of the white stripes taper away to nothing) which adds to the look of it being cut on the bias, but probably really isn’t. As for the skirt, it seems as though the gathers on the right side of the picture are pulling the fabric to give the diagonal bias look to the skirt, even though if you see the rightmost stripes (a bit hard to see, but I am talking about the thin green one) seem to be running more straight up and down than the left obviously diagonal stripes. So my guess is that it is cut on grain but with a funny trapezoid or rhombus shape, and that the non-uniform stripe width and the gathers give it a bias look. Then the center piece would be cut on the cross-grain to get the opposing stripes, and it looks like there are some gathers there as well? At least where the little tie-knot-thing is on the right anyway. Actually, as I look at the bottom of the center piece there seems to be an orange stripe that is swooping up, but teal/brown stripes swooping down, and that is definitely in the print, not the cutting of the fabric. So I am going to go with the theory that the print is a stripe that is generally running vertically along the grain, but that it varies in stripe width and has some swooshy side-to-side directional variation as well. And with that decision about the fabric I assume that my other deductions about grain lines are mostly correct.
Of course, I could be totally wrong, but after spending way too long staring at that picture that is my best guess.
March 16, 2012 at 6:26 pm
ReAnn Scott
I checked out the eBay store and they certainly have wonderful fabrics – at great prices. But I noticed that every single piece of silk they are selling says the width is 45-60″. Now we all know this makes a whole bunch of difference when buying fabric – the difference between needing only a yard if it’s 60″ to needing 1 1/2 yards if it’s 45″ wide. Did you find out the exact width of your fabric before placing your order?
March 16, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Karen Mueller
ReAnn,
Just scroll down a little further on the page and you’ll see a description box for that particular listing that gives all the details, including width, fabric weight etc.
March 16, 2012 at 11:24 pm
ReAnn Scott
I found it – after emailing May and she very promptly responded – telling me to scroll down further! So I promptly ordered some fabulous chiffon. If it’s as great as it looks – at her prices and shipping costs ($4) then I can’t wait to tell everyone I know who sews about her online ‘store.’
ReAnn
March 16, 2012 at 11:58 pm
ms. modiste
I’m not any kind of expert, so I’ll leave the analysis to others. But, for anecdotal evidence, you may be interested to know that I have a knit RTW top with a similar looking neckline and it is cut on the straight grain (not bias).
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/msmodiste/6924307245/
(In a dress of that value I would hope that the stripes in the fabric would be woven rather than printed, which always strikes me as cheap. That leads me to agree with those who guess the neckline is on the straight grain and the skirt on the bias.)
March 17, 2012 at 1:23 am
Amy
Ahhh, to find some silk jersey like that. And you are very generous to share that treasure trove of silk prints! From looking at many of Issa’s other silk jersey wraps that are close to this, the prints all fall straight down so I’m guessing the print itself was designed to flow with the dress? But it’s strange, the gathers are moving toward the side, which doesn’t seem to be in their other styles… could be the way they draped it on the form.
March 17, 2012 at 8:16 am
Jennifer
Did you run across this:
Looks like the same dress and you can see the front pleat construction a tiny bit. Also this one has a center front seam in the skirt. This dress seems to be closely related to the engagement dress, I’m wondering if the skirt is the same on both. But this gridded print version of that dress is helpful:
http://www.farfetch.com/shopping/women/issa-london-kate-print-dress-item-10151955.aspx
March 17, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Jean C.
Might I suggest that you leave a note for the boutique to give you a call? Then maybe you could go in and take a look at the dress in question? Seems far easier than speculating…? At least to me!
March 19, 2012 at 4:59 am
katherine
I might be a bit late here, but have you seen this pattern…it is only $1.88 today.
http://butterick.mccall.com/b5749-products-22647.php?page_id=147
It has the drape, waist thingy and some pleaty bits in the skirt. Only cap sleeves though.
March 19, 2012 at 6:00 am
Kerry
I recently purchased some ITY fabric that has a diagonal stripe. The pattern I used was a completly different style from what you’re doing, but I did cut the bodice on the bias so that the stripe would be horizontal, and left the skirt cut on grain. No pics of the dress yet, but Fashion Fabrics Club has diagonal striped ITY fabric. It’s not super high quality, but it does drape well:
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/4662/ITY-Peach-Multi-Stripe-Jersey-Knit
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/4702/ITY-Peach-Blue-Multi-Stripe-Jersey
This is the one I used:
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/9164/ITY-Blue-Green-Stripe-Jersey-Knit
Also available in other colors:
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/9172/ITY-Green-Pink-Jersey-Knit
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/p/9156/ITY-Pink-Chartreuse-Jersey-Knit
March 21, 2012 at 8:32 pm
The Slapdash Sewist
Seriously, you tempt a woman on a Lenten fabric fast? Actually, birds kind of creep me out (I also hate cats and fish. And am a vegetarian. Agreed it seems odd) so I wouldn’t wear bird fabric. But I’m not gonna click on the seller to find out what else they have.
My bet is the stripes are printed along the grain. And Brava to katherine for identifying it as Butterick 5749! Now I want that pattern…
March 24, 2012 at 9:47 pm
meredith
Oh selfish one, thank you for your temporary magnanimity — I ordered 3 yards of that delicious print which I’d have never found without you. (No, not the South Park one, tempting though it was to walk around in a glamorous chiffon Cartman creation…)
October 22, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Darlene Payan
Okay, I know this entry is months late but here it is. The stripes are on the grain because of the top shows vertical lines and the skirting shows diagonal stripes; that part is cut on the bias. I hope I am right because now I want to find a similar fabric and see if I can sport a lovely dress such as this one.
I just came across your blog and will visit you again and again.
Blessings,
Darlene
January 16, 2014 at 3:12 am
Bronwyn
You never know what you are going to find on the internet – I picked up a remnant of the bird fabric in October 2013!