I started this dress in late August. I am sure I was channelling
Jessica and her floral dresses when planning it. The fabric is from my mum's vast fabric stash. It is liberty-esque or possibly even liberty. I used the dress pattern 3c from "
Simple Modern Sewing", but left off the sleeves as I didn't have enough fabric.
The dress is a simple A line with a boat neck and a casing at the waist. I put some pale pink ribbon in the casing but am planning on swapping that for something darker, as the pale pink looks too lady's nightie for me.
The pattern is easy to follow only two main pieces and two facings, one casing. I made life more complicated by trying to be clever and sewing the neck facing on the outside to create a yoke. It didn't work. At all. The yoke wouldn't lie properly so I had to unpick it and sew it back on to the inside. I made the centre front have a little notch as it is a very high boat neck.
Instead of the arm facing I made and added bias binding. (Not a fan of arm facing) I handsewed the binding and hem as it is easier to find pockets of time for handsewing than machine sewing. Quite a lot of this was sewn in the car outside school or while watching the i-player with a sleeping baby on my lap.
Today I test drove my new dress. Despite it being a floral best suited to summer, I enjoyed wearing it more than I expected. The floral dress with tights and boots is a bit of a 90s throwback and I liked that. It was comfortable and practical enough for a walk and bus ride morning out.
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| This strange picture is me on the bus! Brown woolly tights and green boots. |
The bad points about the dress? I sewed a size large and it is a little too big on the top, the neck is a bit too high. I am thinking I could lower the front neckline easily enough by about half an inch. I am not so sure about the bodice fit. My bust size is a slowly shrinking measurement as I still nurse RG but not as frequently as when she was younger. So I am tempted to leave the bodice fit until next year and hopefully only have to alter it once. (I am also too lazy to do it now, and too keen to move onto the next project)
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| Strictly casual dressing round here. Smart, well dressed people need not call round. (just joking) And yes of course I always co-ordinate my colours with RG's clothes. |
So I am happy with my summer floral dress completed just as Autumn edges towards Winter. I hope to manage to sew something seasonly appropriate one day.
