I Think I Love My New Dress: Itch to Stitch Oia Dress

Sassy. Sexy. Shapely.

What more can you ask from a dress?

This, my friends, is the Oia Dress from Itch to Stitch. Brand new, today for all your hot end-of-summer dates. This dress fits me like a glove with almost no adjustments. It's like we were meant to be!

Pattern Details

Just like the Greek village on the island of Santorini it's named for, the Oia Dress (by the way, it's pronounced Ee-yah) has some lovely and interesting architecture. The front straps are integrated into princess seams and highlighted with large grommets. The high, fitted waistband angles in just slightly hugging your rib cage and transitioning to a flattering A line skirt WITH pockets!

Design Features

-Woven, drafted fronts for A, B, C, D, DD cup sizes

-Front princess seams

-V neck with grommets and lacing detail

-Sleeveless, with wide shoulder straps

-A line skirt with side seam pockets

-Fully lined with machine finish at zipper

-Invisible center back zipper

Make sure you don't miss this post seeing ALL the tester versions HERE!

Muslin Work

So. This dress was super easy to fit.

Let me repeat that.

This dress was super easy to fit.

I started with an 8DD bust, blended out to a 10 waist, blended out to a 12 hip. I took 2 inches off the skirt and 2 5/8 inches off the straps. (Don't fret, the instructions tell you exactly how to do that).

The only thing I had to pick at about this dress was the back rumples. There was too much length in the fabric there, so it settled into my, er, back topography. Yes, Topography. So, aside from the general length adjustments made for my short self, I took about a 1/2 "extended" sway back adjustment. Instead of tapering to nothing at the side seam, I took it a little further and tapered to nothing about halfway through the side bust.

SWAY BACK TIP: I trimmed my swayback from the top of the waistband pieces so that I didn't have to interfere with any of the back and side bust shaping.

Construction Notes

Many of the ladies used linen. In fact, that is what I used for my muslin. I like the look of it so much that I might go back and finish the muslin as a wearable version.

For my final version, I selected this weird 3D floral from my stash. It's a Nicole Miller print that I picked up at Joann's a few years back. It has a rather plastic-feeling polyester woven fabric, printed with this vibrant floral. Over top there is tacked a poly organza also printed. As the organza shifts slightly and stands away from the woven base, it creates a 3D effect. I thought it looked cool...even if looking at it made me a little motion sick.

Oia Dress is listed as an advanced pattern. Part of that is because of the invisible zip, and because it's a fully lined dress. But also, the corners at the front of the neckline could be considered tricky. I guess I'm a little jaded because I didn't have any trouble, even using a plastic (did I say plastic) fabric that doesn't want to press, or ease...it just wants to fray.

I see you, Whiskers. We ALL see you.

I think it also helped that the backside of my fabric was white, so it was really easy to see where my stitches stopped and started.

So Those Grommets, Right?

Do yourself a favor. DON'T SKIP THE GROMMETS. I mean, this is the detail that really makes this dress sing. It can be a little tricky to find just the right size in some areas. Weirdly, middle of nowhere Michigan had several options!

If you are looking for a basic silver or gold, your best place to find 3/8in (1cm) grommets is going to be your local hardware store. All mine only had shiny gold, which was OK for this dress, but not my favorite. If you can't find 1cm, don't panic! You can use some that are a little bigger.

I found 1.1cm at Walmart. Joann's had some in both 3/8 in and 1.1cm. I ended up using 1.2 cm grommets in black, that I found at Hobby Lobby, of all places. My store had several options and finishes to choose from. Whatever you do, DON'T. GO. SMALLER. They'll get lost in the design.

One Little Customization

Generally, during a pattern test, we aren't allowed to stray from the pattern so that we can show you a true sample of the design. Because the back of my fabric, and my lining were white, they show through my bottom 4 grommet holes and it looks out of place. To resolve this, I got the OK and added some patches to my lining behind where the grommets sit.