My African wax print dress project.

The Dress

For quite a while now I’ve wanted to try a project using an African wax print. There are so many beautiful examples all over the internet and in real life where I live (in the Maryland/DC area). The best thing about this fabric option for me is that there are so many different places here to buy authentic prints locally. So after reading Threads Magazine (issue #202), I decided now was as good a time as any. I purchased my material from a local fabric store. Then I had to decide on what dress pattern I was going to use.

I decided to use Simplicity 8384. This was a great pattern choice for this because I wanted to make something without a lot of details. The fabric should stand alone as the focal point in this case. Because I have made this before, I didn’t need to make any adjustments. Like with the previous dress I made, I used snaps on the inside of the placket rather than buttons on the outside. I didn’t want buttons competing with the fabric design.

The Fabric

For those of you who don’t know, African wax print fabric is sold in 45″ widths only. The color saturation is such that either side can be used as the “right” side of the fabric (at least for this piece). The width is definitely something to keep in mind if you are looking to buy a piece of fabric but you’re not sure what pattern you might use or what you might actually make with it.

All in all, I’m glad I finally bought and used this fabric. I have seen so many beautiful dresses, suits and skirts made from this type of fabric both on the internet and in real life, that it was something that I really wanted to use. While I’m not giving up my love of floral fabrics, I always want to give something different a try! Besides, having more fabric options is a great thing in my opinion.

The Pattern