Belted Karl Dress

This is the Karl Dress from Schneidernmeistern, the latest addition to my growing custom turtleneck collection. I love the cool urban styling, and easy wearing fabrics of Schneidernmimeistern designs. It's not the first of Monika's designs I've made, but it is the first I've blogged about. I have a couple of Just Another Tees that are in heavy rotation under (also unblogged) Driftless Cardigans.

The Karl Dress is a relaxed fit, funnel neck dress with long sleeves and a midi hemline. It's designed to be worn loose, but I think it's great belted, and more true to my personal style. There are tons of really great unbelted versions out there (Ute's, and Sabra's, Nicoletta's, and of course Monika's), so I'll spare myself a second round of beltless selfies.

The Karl Dress is as easy to sew as a t-shirt, and easy to tweak the fit. The slightly dropped shoulder, and roomy cut is a simple design, but creates an overall look very different from other knit dress patterns. The dropped shoulder seam works well to balance out my pear shape.

I ordered my English language version of the Karl Dress on Kollabora, you can also get it on Nah-Connection. I cut a 40 at the bust and waist, graded to 42 at the hips, then I shaved some off each side of the hips, so I guess this is a straight 40. I'm a little shy of the 5'7" the dress was designed for, but I kept all of the length. If I were going to make another version to be worn without the belt, I'd hem it a bit shorter. I was a little worried the tapered skirt would be difficult to walk in, but the stretch easily accommodates my full stride.

The fabric is Telio Stretch Rayon Bamboo from Fabric.com. This french terry is the ideal weight, and drape for this design, it has 100% stretch (it says 25% in the listing, but mine is much stretchier across the grain), and comes in a few other colors. This espresso/taupe hue isn't exactly the color I hoped for. I wanted something a bit lighter gray to go better with the rich tone of the boots and belt. Considering how well the fabric satisfies the other requirements, and how lovely it is to wear, I can hardly complain.

Husband asked if this is my Princess Leia tribute dress, and he is having a hard time keeping a straight face when I'm wearing it. Vogue tells me the covered-up-and-belted-Princess-Leia look is on trend, so I'm just gonna ignore him.  My muse was someone more along the lines of a late 80's christian rocker, or Jean Smart in the first season of Designing Women, anyway. Where are my shoulder pads... 

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Pattern: Karl Dress by Scheidernmeistern from Kollabora
Fabric Telio Stretch Rayon Bamboo from Fabric.com (affiliate links)