Pattern Showcase: Winter Wear Design's Tourist Tie Dress

Sometimes we need a little special detail in our dresses for them to look interesting and fun. And a really fun detail I liked in some of my retail wear tops/dresses is a side tie - in fact, I own quite a few RTW that has a side tie feature just cos it's so cute and on trend. 

Some time back, I managed to test Winter Wear Design's Tourist Tie Top, Tunic and Dress and it's just PERFECT for recreating the kind of look i love! 

There are several sewing patterns out there already that sports a similar look. But what stands out for Winter Wear Design's version is the fact that hers can be made using both knits AND wovens. Yes! Knits and Wovens all in 1 pattern. 

I made 3 versions to showcase how the pattern will look in 3 different fabrics:

This pink tie top is in a tencel blend, woven. Zero stretch. Made according to instructions in my size. If you use a fabric with less drape, it may not look as good so one thing to note is to always check the drape of your fabric, and for this top, you may wish to use fabric with better drape e.g. rayon, rayon blends. 

This purple top is made using a 4 way stretch modal fabric. It's very light and drapey and it is really comfortable to wear. I made it as per instructions for knit fabric - you sized down 1 size in width. 

My last version is a dress made with 2 way stretch tencel blend fabric. Now, if you are intending to make a dress, you might like to know that this pattern can be a fabric hog. Thankfully, there is a way around that and the pattern has instructions on how to cut the tie portion out separately and hide the joint within the tie so that is definitely an option that you can consider if you wish to save fabric. 

Hope my post has given you some ideas of what kind of top/dress you may wish to do with the pattern. Again, here's the aff link for those interested: Tourist Tie Top, Tunic and Dress