Category Archives: Dress

Chequered Rose Rosalyn

Pattern: Vikisews Rosalyn dress, printed English version. Bought half off with party season in mind

Fabric: Liberty Chequered Rose tana lawn, bought from Shaukat. This was an unusual splurge for me but it was love at first sight! It was from the S/S 22 collection inspired by Alice in Wonderland, though I never caught it in the actual store.

Pattern notes: Much like the Atlas, this was a highly enjoyable tour de force of ‘classic dressmaking’ techniques: loads of darts, gathers, invisible zip, facings and rouleau straps. It was my first time using a printed Vikisews pattern and I didn’t find it quite as user friendly as their PDFs. For one, there’s no printed instruction booklet included: you need to scan a QR code on the pattern tissue to access a PDF. Secondly, with ten sizes included it was really hard to follow the correct cutting and notch lines as the dashed lines are not that distinctive and often all blurred together. I initially sewed the back darts too narrow because I followed the wrong lines.

The instructions are good though, thoroughly guiding you through steps to get a reasonably nice finish (as in, overlocked rather than french seamed or anything). There’s a lot of little pieces in the bodice and I felt a few more notches would have been helpful to make sure you have pieces the right side up, and the sleeves atypically have the entire armsyce gathered rather than just the cap than between notches, which is not explicitly specified (but you definitely need that entire edge gathered to squish all that fabric in).

Fit notes: My measurements put me bang in between size 38 and 40; I went for 40 due to the slim fit and this was the right choice as it’s pretty spot on through the waist and hips and I wouldn’t want it much tighter. I didn’t make any other alterations other than taking a slightly deeper hem. The pattern helpfully has two ‘try on for fit’ points so some adjustments can be made as you go, though it’s only really once you’re 75% done that it’s possible to try on. I could stand to take a tiny pinch out the back neck but otherwise it’s pretty great.

Final thoughts: Fun to make and fun to wear. It’s getting its first outing at a Christmas party tonight, though I need to decide how to layer to help tana lawn deal with below-zero temps…

Two-tone Atlas Wrap Dress

Pattern: Sewing Patterns by Masin Atlas Wrap Dress. A bit of a Black Friday impulse purchase having seen many pretty ones made up and thinking it’d be a handy festive season dress.

Artful mockups of fabric choices

Fabric: Tencel Linen in Josephine and Black from Merchant & Mills – originally bought a while back for pants, but I really don’t need more pants. Having mocked-up and consulted with Josh, I decided it’d make a good colour-blocked Atlas rather than buying a new print (this was my second choice, which I’ve now got earmarked for a Vikisews Rosalyn…)

Pattern notes: Oh, it’s a fun one, lads. All those meaty, meditative details to contend with, which I was exactly in the mood for: full stand collar, continuous-bound-placket cuffs, an intriguing-shaped pattern puzzle for the front-wrapped skirt which incorporates the tie and a nice diagonal drape.

The instructions are very nice: all the key info is easily to hand and the steps are sensible but thorough and chatty, which was fun to follow. Restoring my faith that indies can still be high-quality and interestingly-designed from time to time!

It took me most of a leisurely Sunday to work my way through, a large part of which was making sure I’d cut the appropriate pieces out of brown vs black to make my two-tone idea work (no errors made, amazingly). Most of the front pieces are single-layer anyway but I sliced the back and collar bits up the centre, added SA and pieced them back together to be completist about it all.

Fit notes: I made a size B graded to C from waist to hip, with no other changes. The fit’s pretty nice – the bodice is intentionally long so it blouses and the skirt is quite slim. The only thing that’s a tiny bit uncomfortable are the lower arms and cuffs which are pretty snug; I can only just fit my (admittedly giant) hands though with the buttons done up.

Final thoughts: I’m pretty sure I dig it! I’ve been keen to try mini-length skirts again for winter since I don’t like wearing midis with tights and coats, although I’m not sure the slightly austere colour story here really reads ‘festive party’ after all: I’ve bought this stuff to maybe make another.

Vikisews Oona dress

Pattern: The Vikisews Oona dress. I bought it in English with a discount code from their Etsy shop – it appears to be on sale for just £5 at the moment too.

Fabric: A stash mystery! It’s a very lovely weighty, drapey off-black cloth with a bit of slub and I have no idea where it came from. I’d say some blend of tencel/linen/rayon if I was guessing. I had the perfect amount for this dress so calling it fate.

Pattern notes: I umm’ed and ahh’ed over this pattern for a bit: I’ve been looking for variations on midi/milkmaid styles but was a bit concerned that the plunging front was out of my comfort zone – but I reckoned that if I offset that with a sombre colour and matronly length it’d work out okay.

The pattern was initially intimidating, with a lot of steps and fiddly little pattern pieces. But once I got going I realised there’s nothing to fear. Essentially every edge is either hemmed or faced with an elastic casing (elastic lengths are all provided) and there’s quite a sensible order of construction to get nice neat edges where all the pieces abut. The instructions are excellent, very thorough but no extraneous info either (honestly I love being told which side to press seams to), and clearly photographed. The only variation I made was to French seam everything, which was a bit tricky with a 1cm seam allowance but I got there. Everything fitted together like a lovely scrunchy puzzle and it’s so neat and tidy inside and out.

Fit notes: I made a 38 in 158cm height. Before attaching the skirt I checked the fit of the bodice and reckoned I needed to pull all the bodice elastics a bit tighter to help everything stay in place. This is quite easy to do at this stage provided you don’t baste the elastic ends in place too enthusiastically, so I definitely recommend it before you seal everything up once the skirt goes on. I took an inch off the skirt length and gave it a deep blind-stitched hem. I think the size down might fit better with less ruching, but I guess the effect is supposed to be blousy.

Thoughts: I really like it! It feels comfortable and secure and not like I need to mess around with it all the time. Going braless feels fine in this weightier fabric with the tightened elastics. I want to make another one, perhaps from one of the fun prints in my stash, and perhaps hacking the bodice to give more coverage like this lovely one on IG.

Hacked tie-front bodice dress

Pattern: a self-draft hack using a basic woven T-shirt bodice block as the base

Fabric: deadstock viscose print bought from Fabric Godmother a while back – there are some similar ones still in stock.

Pattern notes:

Rather than give into the temptation to make yet another Mindy hack (who knows, i may yet tire of square necklines and puffy sleeves) i sketched and pulled together this simple silhouette. The construction is straightforward; the cropped T-bodice is sliced up the middle and finished with a facing, into which the skinny tie straps are sandwiched. I played with the ties’ position a bit to prevent bra-flash, but ended up sewing some of the seam closed under the lower tie to be extra sure. Then just a gathered skirt of my fabric’s width, and finally a little hem ruffle to bring it to my preferred mid-calf midi length.

Thoughts: It turned out just how i imagined and feels so easy to wear. I love these conversational prints, and the especially ’me’ palette of black plus muted pinks, blues and beiges make it extra likely to be selected regularly. I expect I’ll wear it quite a lot.

Hubbading Faye with embroidery

Pattern: Hubbading Patterns Faye Dress, bought on Etsy

Fabric: A long-stashed mystery – I think it might be a linen-look cotton from Manchester’s Abakhan. It’s got a weightyish drape and a very nice washed-chambray effect finish.

Pattern & modification notes:

I’d been pinning a lot of dresses in this style (this one in particular) and was glad to find this pattern with the fairly-hard-to-hack diamond bodice detail. I first made it in a viscose lawn back in December-ish and took it on holiday to Mexico:

Back then I noted:

  • Made size 8. There is a lot of volume and ease built in which might’ve felt overwhelming had my fabric not been so light. It pulls on over the head easily.
  • Squished it out of only 2m where 3.5 is stated; I only had to reduce the sleeve length and slash-and-overlap some width out and cut the lining from another scrap to make this work.
  • Thought there could been a neater way to finish the lined bodice, or eliminate lining completely; I don’t really care for multiple layers in a floaty summery dress. While the given instructions are clear, it’s tricky to be accurate at the middle-point intersection and it’s slightly inelegantly topstitched to secure along the gathered diagonal seams.
  • Proportionally I wanted it a little bit longer – it’s an awkward on-knee length, I prefer a mid-calf midi.

I’ve been wearing it quite a lot and decided to make another to resolve these minor snags. For my second one I reduced the size further all over (pivoted some flare out of the bodice, shortened the back a bit, made the gathered skirt panels narrower). I added 5.5″ length (the maximum my fabric would allow) to the middle panels and eked the lower ruffle out of what was left of the yardage. Luckily proportionally I was pleased with how this turned out as well as having basically zero waste.

Inspired by another pinned garment, I jazzed up the neckline and hem with hand blanket stitch edging. I actually just turned a simple double hem all around the neckline which worked surprisingly well. The stitching is a bit haphazard but I do like the effect. I used a similar machine stitch to topstitch the elastic channels on the sleeves and left a little hem for a ruffly effect.

Thoughts: I’m just smitten tbh. It turned out exactly how I pictured and it’s all I want to wear right now.

Bias plaid Maya

On a fun-dress-sewing tilt and keen to not make exclusively Mindys, I branched into another pattern from the same company. This is the Fibremood Maya, which unusually for me I saw, bought, printed and sewed within the space of a couple of days. I’m not usually a rash pattern purchaser but thought this looked like an excellent addition to my current easy-wear dress phase that might eke a little bit into cooler weather with the increased skin coverage. I think Fibremood and – bizarrely – McCall’s are killing it right now with cool dress silhouettes (I’m waiting for quite a few new arrivals to hit the UK) while many of the indies have gone pretty basic and boring IMO.

Maya was a pleasure to sew, from smooth PDF assembly (praise be clear layplans and layered sizing) to just-engaging-enough construction, which only took a leisurely afternoon. It only has 3 main pattern pieces, the all-in-one front and back being shaped by a series of eight fisheye darts around the torso and the sleeves being given ample poof with several pleats and tucks along the sleeve head and into the hem. The crew neck is bias bound, sleeve hems are faced and there’s an invisible zip up the CB.

My current measurements put me between size 36 and 38, I chose 38 as I figured it’d be easier to take in via all the darts if needed, but found the fit through the body pretty good as is – there’s ample comfy wearing ease, aided by a bit of natural stretch in my fabric. The only ad-hoc fitting adjustment I had to make was to insert a couple of darts in the back neck to suck up some excess either side of the zip, which I’ve transferred back to the pattern for next time now.

I used a cotton seersucker check from Stoff & Stil (recently rebranded as Selfmade). They have an excellent range in at the moment and while perhaps one of the more muted colourways would get more wear I love the palette of this one with its pops of bubblegum pink and royal blue. I had 3m to play with so, somewhat inspired by Ganni, decided to cut everything on the bias. I don’t think I’ve made a bias-cut garment before but actually this seersucker didn’t seem to behave much differently to on-grain fabric, perhaps because of its tight weave and natural crinkly mechanical stretch.

Using a very obvious non-symmetrical plaid probably wasn’t the smartest idea with all the vertical darts and seams of this pattern though: I honestly did try to pattern match the centre back across the zip but failed miserably, but actually since the fisheye darts slice up the lines anyway I don’t think it’s too terrible. I also cut the front, back and sleeves all of different rotations of the print, but eh if you squint and aren’t paying attention I think it’s fine.

I think this pattern would work really nicely in a solid (or a smaller scale gingham) to highlight the design lines and avoid such pattern-match disasters, so I think I might make another sometime – it’s certainly fun and comfy to wear.