Style Arc Jessica Dress

I made a printed version of this pattern recently in a slinkier knit and promised to remake it in a solid.  Often these promises come to nothing, but this time I did keep it and have made this twist dress in a plain purple ITY knit so you can see the lines much better.

There are a few changes and observations from my first version;

I took the bodice up at the shoulders instead of securing the low neckline, obviously this raises the waistline up, but it seems to work for me.  I made a 10 again, and took it in a bit at the waist.  The bodice is quite roomy, if you usually do an FBA you may not need to with this pattern and vice versa you might need to downsize.

I shortened the hem to knee length.  On both my versions and looking at examples online, the asymmetric pleats in the skirt make the hem not hang straight so I trimmed it while on my dressform to straighten it out before hemming.  No one else seems to have mentioned it so maybe I'm being fussy.



This is two projects in a row where I think the drawing does not match the pattern, and now I'm starting to doubt myself!  In this case the way the front knot is illustrated is different to the instructions, I ended up following the instructions, maybe I did it wrong, I don't think it really matters.

The knot is quite bulky, although this does help keep it all in place.  I'm wondering if it's possible to shape the bodice extensions so that they are narrower where they wrap around each other?

Instructions

Line drawing

This colour does make it quite a dressy dress, albeit a comfy jersey one, but I think I can dress it down with a casual jacket when it gets cooler.

Unrelated to how I feel about this dress, I've got to say my sewing mojo is just not there at the moment.  I don't know if it's because it's the middle of a hot summer, my current lack of enthusiasm for new pattern releases and general apathy towards fashion or what, but I hope it passes soon!