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Nothing fits quite as luxuriously as a bias-cut dress. So when Haley designed the Grace dress, she wanted to epitomize the sumptuous, flowing nature of fabric cut on the bias.
Keep reading to meet the new Grace dress, and we’ll show you why you need a bias-cut dress in your closet. And don’t worry, we have a Guide to Working on the Bias if you need some help finding the right grainline on your slippery fabric.
Meet Grace
Grace is a bias-cut slip dress with a body-skimming fit. The fully-lined bodice has a V-neckline at the front and back, both with center seams to help with fitting.
The Namesake: This pattern is named after one of our Seamwork ambassadors! Follow Gracie on Instagram here.
Fabric & Fit
Fabrics to shop: Light to medium-weight woven fabrics such as lawn, linen blends, rayon challis, voile, crepe, viscose, Tencel, and charmeuse. If this is your first bias-cut garment, fluid and slippery fabrics like rayon, slinky silks, and synthetics might be tricky, so start with lawn, linen, or voile.
Fabrics to avoid: When working with bias-cut fabrics, avoid heavyweight canvases, twills, and stretch fabric.
Fit: With this project, the bias-cut fabric will mold itself to your body. The center front and back seams provide an easy way to tweak the fit of this dress, but pay attention to the amount of ease in the finished garment measurements when picking a size. To learn how to cut and sew fabric on the bias, read this tutorial.
Why You Need a Bias-cut Dress in Your Closet
Something that’s always appealing about a slip dress is its versatility—it can be sexy in satin, casual in rayon, or even a great layering piece under a blazer (like the Keaton blazer). Depending on fabric choice, a bias cut-dress is a wardrobe chameleon, giving a slight nod to romantic, vintage style.
To get inspired by some of this romantic, vintage style, take a look a the work of a designer who brought the art of the bias to fashion history: French couturier Madeleine Vionnet.
Madeleine Vionnet perfected the art of the bias for garments. Her first designs came out in 1907, but came into high fashion in the late 1920s and early 1930s. As seen in the flowing lines of her designs, her philosophy was the glorification of the free, uncorseted body!
If this inspires you to try working on the bias, you’ll soon discover how special these garments feel when you wear them.
Sew the Grace Dress
