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I was inspired by Etro's 2017 fall ready-to-wear collection, especially this dress that looked so much like our Afghan Nomad Dress.
So, I thought I would try to make my own! When I was in NYC in August I found some beautiful Liberty fabric at a great price at Mood. I also found a few yards of beautiful, wide embroidered silk trim at Virgin Fabrics in the Garment District. Then, Rachel at Botanica Tinctoria sent me indigo-dyed organic cotton crocheted lace. A vision was starting to come together.
I use our 107 Afghan Nomad Dress pattern and made a few alterations. First, I shortened the skirt to my knees and took out a lot of the skirt bulk. I used maybe half to 2/3 the amount of a traditional Afghan nomad dress. I just did not need or want that much bulk for a shorter skirt (also the fabric was expensive enough that I thought I could do with using less!). And, I think I probably could have used even less width in the skirt, especially since it is a little bit of a heavier fabric than the lightweight, translucent lawn I used for sleeve and bodice, and doesn't drape as close to the body. I also flipped the back to be the front (and front to be the back) because I like the neckline of the slit in the front.
I started by sewing the embroidered trim onto the bodice (by machine). Then, I hand-stitched the crocheted lace between the trims and at the bottom. The bodice already had the center slash cut into it, so I was just stitching on top as if it was not there.
I then I cut the slash at the top of the bodice for the neckline through the trim, and tacked the back, or lining, of the bodice to the front bodice piece. From there, I just followed the pattern instructions. I did a blind hem stitch on the bottom edge.
I love how it turned out - love the colors - and it is very comfortable.
Anyone else inspired to make their own Afghan Nomad Dress?
Derrith Wieman
June 01, 2022
I am sizing up the Afghani Nomad Dress to size 3XL. Good thing I’m making a pattern toile for the bodice & sleeves. I also put the slit in the front.
Three suggestions for the pattern:
1: the gusset needs to be sized up in scale with grading the pattern. I ended up making my gussets 12" long but no deeper.
2: When grading the pattern the location of the shoulder pleats land should be defined. A comment in the pattern re whether they should be centered on the shoulder would be most helpful.
3: That 12" circumference neck opening would not fit a plus size woman. I made mine 24" circumference & kept the % of neck opening behind the shoulder line the same.