New Look 6098

Today I made it back into to the sewing room to test a new pattern, New Look 6098.  New Look 6098 includes a pattern for a knit top or dress with a low, narrow, V neckline, dolman sleeves, and a swishy full skirt.  I made view A, the dress, in a size 10.  I used a 4-way stretch rayon jersey from Fabric.com that I acquired a couple of years ago.  When I ordered it, I thought I was buying a red colorway.  When it arrived, I was disappointed to find out they had sent a rust and brown colorway.  I have exchanged fabrics before, but I was too lazy to send this one back, so I stuck it in the stash.  Since New Look 6098 was an untested pattern, I thought I would use the above mentioned fabric.  That way if it didn't work out, I wouldn't be upset for having used a piece of fabric I adored.  I have good news however.  The dress turned out beautifully, but not without a lot of fit adjustments along the way!

The fact that the pattern calls for a 2-way stretch, and I used a 4-way stretch, may be part of the reason why I had some fit issues to work out.  I found the bodice to be huge and the neckline entirely too low on the size 10.  The V in the neckline went way past my chest and into stomach territory.  Yikes!  However, if you are a busty gal, you may find the bodice to work just fine for you.  I, however, had to remove 2 inches from the inner neckline and about 2 inches from the lower front bodice.  By doing this I was able to eliminate the gathers altogether in the bodice. I also took one inch off the back shoulder seam.  In my opinion it wrapped too far to the front of the dress, and the arms had too much ease for my taste.  My adjustments caused the bodice front of the dress to be slightly higher than the back, so I shaved about an inch off the midriff, in the back, to even it up, before I attached the skirt.  Here is the finished dress.

Here is a close-up of the front bodice.  It does not gape, but it is necessary to wear a low plunging bra.  The pattern instructs you to lap the neckline at the bottom of the V, but I chose not to.  I like the clean look of it being side by side.

I didn't add the elastic on the top of the sleeves near the hem.  I just couldn't get it to look nice so I left it off.  I used my coverstitch machine to hem the dress and sleeves.  Once I had the fit on the bodice dialed in, the rest of the dress was a breeze.  While I was not enthusiastic about the fit of the pattern as it was drafted, I am quite happy with the end result after all my adjustments, and I can see myself making this again.