Hi everyone!
I’m so excited to finally bring the Safari Maxi Dress to you – one of the 5 designs in my 2020 Summer Collection with WeCrochet!
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About
I love classy designs with a clean, store-bought look, but I also like them to have a casual, carefree element to them as well; something you can wear everyday and mix and match with what you’ve already got in your closet. This dress is the perfect blend of sophisticated and casual. It’s got clean lines and thoughtful shaping, yet it’s still a fun, flirty, everyday piece that can be dressed up or dressed down.
This dress accentuates the bust at the neckline with a flattering V-neck as well as at the waist with subtle shaping in the mesh paneling. The tie allows the dress to be tightened to your natural waist while the rest of the dress fits comfortably with a few inches of positive ease for a casual, relaxed look and feel. Another benefit of having the tie at the waist is the fact that it will make your dress fit you incredibly well, even if your gauge happens to be a bit off. If your dress is a little wider than expected, no worries there because you can tighten it to exactly where you need it to hug your waist. For this reason, if you are between sizes, I would recommend choosing the larger size of the two.
This dress is both simple and sexy. It doesn’t scream “look at me”, but everyone will be looking anyways.
Construction
To make this dress, the top portion is worked first. The top is worked in 2 panels that get seamed together. Tip: It’s better to have the top be too long than too short. If it’s too short, your waist cinching will be too high on your body and it will make your dress appear too tight. Even if your top seems too long, the waist cinching will correct this and allow for a more relaxed fit. I would recommend the length of your top to end around the top of your hip bones for optimal fit! The red dress shown here in my photos was worked by a sample crocheter and it’s actually a tad small on me since the row gauge was off. The intended fit was to be a pretty loose, relaxed dress that cinches at the waist to avoid looking like a shapeless potato sack. (You know what I mean!)
One the top is seamed together, the skirt is worked directly onto the bottom edge of your completed top. You can try it on as you go to make sure it fits your exact measurements, just the way you like. The mesh panel on the leg can be worked at any point, so feel free to move this mesh section higher or lower on your thigh depending on where you’d like these eyelets to appear on your body during wear. They were intended to be just above the knee, or a few inches lower than the sample shown in the photos here.
Yarn
This dress uses Lindy Chain in the colour Serrano.
This was my first time using Lindy Chain, my first time crocheting with a linen fiber, and my first time using a teeny tiny steel 2.35mm hook! Lots of firsts!
Lindy Chain took a bit of getting used to, but I learned to love her. I found that my hook would catch on some of the fibers until I really found my rhythm. At first, this seemed like a scratchy material, and I actually wondered if this would work out for something that would be worn so closely against your skin, but once it was worked up, I loved it. It’s not a “fuzzy” yarn, and it’s so breathable. It also doesn’t feel scratchy, it just feels like a linen fabric. I love that this creates such a solid fabric that you can’t see through – it really is perfect for a garment like this!
This dress uses 10 (11, 11, 12, 13) (15, 17, 19, 20) balls of Lindy Chain for sizes XS (S, M, L, XL) (2X, 3X, 4X, 5X) and a US 1 (2.35mm) crochet hook.
How to Customize
This dress has certain aspects that can be easily customized to give you a tailored piece that suits your personal style.
1. Colour: You can play around with color blocking or using a contrasting colour for the mesh panels. My original design sketch was forest green with white mesh panels!
2. Mesh/Eyelet Sections: You can work these sections over more rows for wider see-through sections and a more dramatic look. This will also use up less yarn and work up quicker! Just note that these eyelet sections don’t have much stretch, so avoid doing any eyelets near the hem of the dress.
3. Waist Shaping: The stitch count for the bust is the same as the stitch count for the skirt. The top is worked in hdc, while the skirt is worked in dc. Dc has more stretch, and therefor the skirt is actually wider than the top. My bust is 34″ and my waist is 39″, and it fits me very nicely even accounting for the fact that my hips are 5″ larger than my bust. You can, however, add more stitches to your skirt if you would like a wider circumference. I would recommend working any additional increases right after either (or both) of the mesh panels so that they won’t be visible.
4. Length: You can, of course, make this dress any length you like by simply working additional rows until reaching desired length. You can also work more length in between the two mesh panels to allow the mesh to be closer to the knees than the upper thigh.
5. V-Neck Depth: To adjust the depth of the V-neck, simply adjust the length of your straps. Longer straps mean that your V-neck will be plunging, and shorter straps would allow for a more conservative fit.
Thanks so much for reading, I truly hope you love this dress as much as I do!
I’d love to see your WIPs and finished makes! Make sure to tag me on Instagram (@knitsnknotswpg) and use the pattern hashtag #SafariMaxiDress so that everyone can see your projects!
Make sure to also check out the other patterns in the collection! Read about all 5 of them here.
Get the full 65-page e-book with all 5 patterns here for just $9.99!
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xx
Janine
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