Twist Front Dress - BWOF 2-2008-103

I fell in love with this dress when I saw it on Laura's blog. Then I saw it on Tany's blog. I really love the twist on the front and the cowl neckline so I decided I had to make it for myself.


I made a muslin first, which I highly recommend doing. It is a good practice run for doing the twist on the front---and figuring out the instructions.

I used a really drapey knit that I got from Hancock Fabrics on sale. It reminded me of that Diane Von Furstenberg Spotted Frog print that was so popular awhile back.

I read through the instructions several times, but they were no clearer the third time than the first time ---so I decided to just jump right in. They make much better sense if you make the dress while reading the instructions. Unfortunately, they start off really confusingly (is that a word?) because they refer to "asterisks" that don't exist. There are two marks so I just assumed that was what they were referring to. I wish I there had been pictures to show the process, but BWOF doesn't provide them, unfortunately. I decided to take pictures of the process in hopes they would help someone who might want to make this dress.

This is what I came up with after reading the first bullet in the instructions. Note the pleated part on the right hand side of the picture:

After pressing down the facings on the right and left lower fronts and basting them at the top, I placed the right lower front over the left lower front, matching the center fronts. Then I did the rest of the stitching described in second bullet.

The third bullet involves stitching the upper front to the lower fronts and leaving an opening in the seam between the markings at the bottom of the lower front. These markings line up with the edges of the turned down piece in the picture above. Here is what the dress looks like after stitching upper front to lower front. Note the opening:

This is what the right drape piece looks like after following the instructions in the fourth bullet. There is an opening at the right of the picture that you get when sewing from seam no. 3 to the marking:

The next picture is what the right drape piece looks like sewn to the right hand side of the dress (the left hand side in the pic). I have a pen inserted into the opening to make it stand out.

The same process will be done to the left drape piece, but only after it has been inserted down through the opening in the right drape piece. See pic below.

Then you do the same steps to the left drape as the right drape as shown in the pics below. There will be an opening in the left drape just as in the right drape after sewing from seam no. 3 to the marking.

In the next pic, the left drape has been pinned to the left side of the dress ready for sewing.






Next, the pleated part of the right lower front is inserted up through the opening in the left drape. It is then inserted through the opening left in the seam when the upper front and lower fronts were sewn together. See pics below.





The pic below shows how the inside looks with the pleated piece inserted in the upper front/lower fronts seam opening.





One more thing, I interfaced the collar with fusible knit interfacing since the fabric was so drapey. The rest of the dress goes like clockwork.