Smiley Rainbow Raglan Dress: Kwik Sew #3045

Hello everyone! Rainbow clothing has been having a big moment lately, and I thought it would be fun to create a comfy and oversized cold weather look. This post will outline how I did it, using Kwik Sew pattern #3045. Although it's currently too hot here to actually wear this dress out, it was a super quick and easy make that required little to no fuss.

Read below to see more pictures and details!

Here's the pattern I used for this dress, Kwik Sew 3045. It's a pretty standard raglan hoodie pattern with unisex sizing and two variations. Look A features a rib knit neckline, waistband, and sleeve cuffs, whereas Look B has loose sleeves, a hood, and a front pocket. I worked with Look A for this project. 

Click here to see the official pattern information from Kwik Sew!

To turn this pattern into a dress, all I did was extend the sides of the front and back and add 3/4" in width, tapered from the bottom of the armscye. Due to the oversized nature of the hoodie pattern, not much fuss was required. Although I could've slashed and spread the pattern to add the fullness through out, it didn't seem necessary here, as I was only adding 3/4" in. I wanted this project to be quick, comfortable, and easy to sew.

As far as materials are concerned, I used a basic navy sweatshirt fleece from JoAnn Fabrics. I selected navy to match the dark shade in the rainbow rib knit trim from Neotrims (available on Amazon and Ebay). The yellow minky fabric used for the smiley is also from JoAnn's, and the black smiley fabric is just regular plain cotton.

To create the smiley face, I appliqued the two fabrics two the dress using a fusible web, specifically Pellon's EZ-Steam from JoAnn's. I've used this method on a few other projects , and I find it to be a fun way to add artistic details to garments. For anyone interested, I'm working on a Halloween tutorial featuring the fusible web that should be up sometime in September or October.

Here's a few more pictures of what the dress looks like worn. I wish the pictures were a bit more clear; I hope to improve my photography in the coming months!

What would I change?

Although I definitely will be getting use out of this dress come winter, there are a few things I would change or redo. Most of the changes have to do with the neckline. The pattern instructions say to cut the neckline rib knit trim more narrow than the cuffs and waistband, but I chose to keep it the same width as the cuffs. Although I would still cut the piece wider than the pattern wanted, I would probably make it more narrow, so the rainbow showing is the primary focus. Also, I would try to make sure I stretched the rib knit more evenly around the entire neckline. I didn't stretch it enough around the back, because I sectioned it slightly incorrectly. Other than that, I might secure the neckline around the back with twill tape. 

Sorry about all the hair flyaways!

Overall, I'm happy to have a comfy dress to wear in the fall. I've been busy with an internship and summer school this summer, so I haven't had the chance to post as much as I wanted to. But I'm looking forward to Halloween and sewing for the fall. 

I'm also hoping to work on improving my photography. I know it won't happen overnight, but I'd like to have better pictures.  

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know if you have any questions down below.