Poor Rachel, she sits abandoned as a potential functional muslin out of fuchsia stretch crepe because she is a little too bosom-y for Erin taste…

Erin worked up the Rachel wrap dress in fuchsia crepe knit as a potential wearable muslin, but it didn’t work out for her idea of fit and cut.  The dress itself is fine, but was a little too low-cut for her tastes and similar to other things she already has or has made if the neckline is brought up higher.

Functionally, it is very similar to the Vogue #8379 wrap that has been made up here multiple times with no collar.  The main difference is in the cut of the skirt, the lack of pleats in the front, the lack of darts in the back, and the ease that is built into the bound neckline through the front.  This dress would work well on a woman with a square or narrow hip and a full bust who doesn’t mind the cleavage or a rail thin woman who can just throw it on and go.  The ease allows the bound neckline to sit into the cleavage a bit holding everything in place.

As it is, a great little pattern.  The construction is very, very straightforward and the pattern instructions were great.  This is easily a sew-it-in-an-afternoon and wear it out later dress for a quick win if you like the fit.

If you are trying to fine tune the fit, you may want to take some of the ease out of the neckline if you want something that lays a little flatter if you have less than a C cup, or we’d suggest getting rid of the binding at the neckline, adding 1″ to the pattern around the neck/down the front, and then drafting a facing to really clean it up – with the trade off being that it will be more work.

Keep in mind looking at these images that Erin is a standard pattern size 10-12 and the dress form is our sample pattern size 8, so there will be some fullness.

But this is one of those dresses that has the potential to look like so much more than it really is if you go with just the right fabric.

You can buy the Rachel Wrap Dress here.

You can read about the Rachel Wrap Dress here.