A while back I saw this darling Jersey dress online. With my middle child starting high school in August and being immersed in all things band and drumline related, I needed something comfy and cool to wear to the games.  I thought a jersey dress would be the perfect thing to wear while I sit in the stands and watch my middle son perform during halftime. However, I don’t purchase clothing for myself other than undergarments so I knew I was going to have to make it.

No problem.

I had just the pattern in mind too. The Game Day Jersey by Love Notions Patterns. Now was the perfect time to try and copy this dress.

First I looked at the pattern’s “finished measurements” chart in the instructions. Based on those I decided to size down one size so that the dress would be more fitted. For reference, I normally wear a medium but I went down to a size small.

Looking at the inspo pic I knew I would need to lengthen the short sleeve a few inches. To figure out how much, I measured from my armpit to my elbow. Then I measured the sleeve pattern piece and added enough to get the measurement plus hem allowance. For me I added 3 inches, but I was only accounting for a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

I also needed to take out the side vent on the dress. That part is easy because you just fold the flap on the pattern out of the way. The front was shorter than the back by 1 inch so I needed to make those even. Based on all the pics shown with the Game Day pattern I had a pretty good idea of how long the dress would be on me. So I evened them out by taking 1 inch off the back. I wanted the dress to be shorter rather than longer. I’m super happy I did too.

Since I was trying to replicate something, I wanted to do big stripes just like the one pictured. For my stripes I would be using some white ponte roma knit. I love ponte knit because it ‘s super stable and doesn’t roll or fray. By looking at the picture I guessed the stripes were 1.5 inches with 1 inch gap between the stripes. The sleeves looked like the hem part under the stripe was 1 inch wide so I would attach my stripe 1.5 inches up from the sleeve edge. That way I could do a 1/2 inch hem and still have 1 inch of red fabric before the stripe. I left a one inch gap between the stripes on both sleeves.

The stripes on the bottom of the dress looked like the hem part was bigger than the sleeve one. So I attached the bottom stripe 2 inches from the bottom. That way I could hem it 5/8 inch and have a little more than an inch of red between the bottom and the first stripe. I think it looks more uniform.

Attaching stripes to knit fabric can sometimes be a pain. Something I do that makes it super easy is: use a washable stick glue. I apply the glue to the stripe and then press it in place on the fabric. It sticks instantly. I let it dry for a few minutes and then I sew it on using a straight stitch. I don’t like using fabric glue because it’s too stiff and I want the glue to wash away.

Most of my makes are inspired by Ready to Wear. I think my favorite thing about sewing is looking at something and knowing, “I can sew that.” I have been really wanting to make the Game Day pattern for quite some time. I saw a jersey dress online and knew the Game Day pattern would help me replicate it almost perfectly. If I’m going to be going to all the football games I might as well be dressed cute while sitting in the stands.

Do you sew clothing just like the pattern says? or do you tweak it a bit to suit your personal style? I think it depends on what I’m making whether I change the pattern a bit. This was a change I was super happy I made.

Happy sewing and pattern hacking,

Koe