Tag Archives: Dress

my Milanese Panther dress

10/07/2014 11:30 pm \ 57 Comments \

Not the real Milanese panther of course which I understand is a very rare animal…
I bought this fabric in Milan during our trip there two years ago.  I realised after making up my caramel suede from Denmark that, well *blush* all of the fabric I bought on our Paris/Italy trip was still sitting in my stash virtually untouched.  It’s a bad habit of mine, buying precious fabrics and then finding myself completely unable to cut into them.  Fear of destroying them, you know.  Fortunately this beautiful fabric has been successfully not-destroyed ….I don’t know whether to call it velvet or fur, it’s not really like one or the other but a kind of hybrid of both.  Thicker and more directionally “brushed” than velvet, and lighter than most furs.  The pile is deep midnight black over a brilliant, almost neon, rusty-orange backing that reveals itself in the folds of the dress and in motion as sort of inner fiery glow, like the embers of a dying fire.

please excuse that a vampire appears to be wearing the dress here but instead note the interesting inner glow and the luxurious velvet-y furry pile of the fabric, as mentioned above..

The pattern is Vogue 1220; and the design is, in short, lovely.  In not-short; it achieves the trifecta of interesting and feminine and figure flattering; the neckline is pleated into a softly draped shawl collar with a slightly retro feel in its volume, the wide belt cinches the softly blowsy cocoon shape into a tiny waist, and a pegged hemline accentuates the hourglass effect further.  I wasn’t keen on that tie belt at first, especially the way it’s been tied like a big juvenile birthday-bow in the middle of the model’s tummy on the pattern envelope; but the dress does look nicer with the extra waist definition that a wide belt gives and I like it wrapped around twice and with the ties hanging down at the back like this.  

The tie belt is supposed to be unlined and simply finished with a narrow hem, meaning the wrong side of the fabric is exposed.  And the bright rusty-orange reverse of my fabric would have shown in a very distracting and very not-good way!  So I underlined the belt using a very thin, slippery black poly-crepe from Fabulous Fabrics.  

Also I like my winter-y skirts to be lined, so I improvised a lining for the skirt portion of the dress, using the same poly-crepe.  It is cut the same as the skirt parts of the pattern pieces, the pleats and darts simply folded in position and the top edge sewed right sides together to the back skirt/ back seam.  The skirt lining fronts have the raw edges turned under and are hand stitched invisibly to the dress front, and the raw edges of the lining at the side edges and lower edge are encased within the folded back front facings and the hem facing pieces.  I hemmed the skirt facings by hand, to the skirt lining.
The pocket linings are cut from the same poly-crepe; and due to my improvised lining the pockets are nicely hidden away between the layers of the skirt and lining, as seen above.  Or not seen, I guess…

The sleeve cuffs are supposed to be folded out so the wrong side of the fabric shows on the outside too; instead I sewed them in a deep inside hem, which I turned back outside on itself and hand-stitched invisibly in position to the sleeve about 0.5cm inside the edge of the cuff.

How is it to wear? Well… first outing, I wore it out to dinner and found that when seated a little more inner/upper thigh is revealed than I am comfortable with!  And also that attractive pegged hemline does make the skirt rather tight around the thighs, which, if you want, can be easily and quickly remedied by some discreet bottom-button undoing.  Leading however, to even more revealing.  Thank goodness for tablecloths and the ginormous linenware that restaurants drape across your lap!  
Anyhoo, I rapidly formed the opinion that a separate petticoat or slip is pretty much an essential accessory for this design.
So: upon getting home I dug out of my wardrobe an old black satin and lace petticoat that I made about seven? eight? even more? years ago using NewLook 6035; I’ve re-hemmed it to the requisite length and will wear this underneath.  

I’m actually super happy about this, to be honest it’s actually an absolutely brilliant turn of events … why? because I pretty much haven’t worn this black petticoat for years.  Years!  But I’ve hung onto it, thinking surely! it’ll come in handy again, someday!  And now it has!  Finally!  Woooooot!

Just to give some perspective to the issue: seated, with petticoat… see wot I mean? Essential!!

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1220, black/orange brushed velvet
Petticoat; NewLook 6035, black satin and lace, first seen here
Shoes; Zomp, from Zomp shoes









no real reason for this picture other than that the sun broke through the clouds and I just liked it  🙂
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White linen Zsalya dress with patchwork

07/05/2014 1:12 am \ 58 Comments \

Hello!  I’m wearing a new dress. The cool fingers of winter are tickling at the edges of our days so obviously I had to make a light and fluttery, floaty white linen thing for myself.  It was only logical  * 😀
Actually, the truth is that I made it a while ago now!  when we were still getting very hot weather and I have worn it several times already.  The pattern is the Zsalya from Kate & Rose patterns.  Kati emailed me to ask if I would like to test one of their lovely new range; thank you so much for the opportunity Kati!  It was so hard to choose just one!  The Zsalya is a dress or top pattern with two sleeve variations, and I made the dress with short sleeves.
I knew straight away I would love this design.  It has no closure, you just slip it on over your head and it is easy breezy, and as cool as.  In all senses of the word.  🙂
The sleeves are quite cute.  I like how they are tightly gathered in at the top which lends them a sweetly pert and boxy shape, and they have a pretty petal-shaped hemline.

The neckline is so clever.  I think it’s my favourite feature of the dress.  When I first looked at how open it was I considered putting in a little rouleau loop and button closure, but you know what? there is absolutely no need.  Gape-age just doesn’t happen, thanks to the clever design.  The crossover yoke is open so you can get your head through quite easily, but once the dress is on it all sits nicely flat and closed with a safe and demurely high neckline.  Clever!
I edged the neckline with a patchworked strip of bias cut cotton scraps; this was simply sandwiched between the yoke and yoke facing before stitching them together.

I made my dress in a handkerchief grade linen from Fabulous Fabrics, and the patchwork border is comprised of various scraps from previous projects.  I was inspired by this image. About once in a blue moon I actually find a need for those bitsy odds and sods of leftover cottons that are pretty much good for nothing, that I hoard like a crazy old fabric-obsessed miser.  This was one of those rare occasions.  Vindication!
The patchwork panel is backed with a white linen facing to stabilise it.

I added in-seam side pockets  🙂

Really, even though it looks blustery as all get-out in these pictures and it was, it was also quite insanely hot and muggy on the day I took them.  So a loose little linen number was actually just what the Fremantle doctor ordered!  I was getting bored with all my summer dresses so it was nice to have an excuse to make a new one.  Summer dresses are such fun, both to make and to wear.  And even this late in the season it’s always nice to have a fresh and new-ish summer dress waiting in the wings of the wardrobe over winter  🙂

* Mr Spock, of course

Details:
Dress; the Kate & Rose Zsalya dress, white linen with patchwork details
Thongs, Havaianas

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Issey Miyake tucked dress

15/02/2014 5:03 pm \ 48 Comments \

I’ve made a new dress.  Part of that swap-eroonie…. which does seem like a vague dream from the distant past now; but actually upon which progress has happily been made.    *gasp*  *self back-pat*.
My new dress is from an old Vogue Issey Miyake pattern, Vogue 2438, hailing from maybe the late 90’s? I think? I don’t know for sure.  If someone does then please feel free to enlighten me!  (Later edit; 2001)  I bought it through ebay.  The dress is basically a giant, almost shapeless sack of a dress that achieves shaping with a few darts and two big strategically placed folds held in place with snap tape.  You are supposed to arrange the snaps to make the folds more or less pronounced, as desired.  Pretty cool concept, huh?   This is in the same vein to another Issey Miyake dress I have, of black jersey, and is perfectly representational of my desire to make things that look kinda ordinary on first sight but on closer inspection turn out to be just a touch weird and slightly “off”.  Those of us into clothes often see the link between our fashion choices to our personalities; and I think that description pretty much sums up me in a nutshell too  😉

 it’s asymmetrical so the side views are a bit different
there are also darts down each side from the underarm to the hip

This dress is supposed to be made in stretchy fabric too, but scandalously, it is not.  It is a thickish woven cotton, deep chocolate brown with a cream pin-stripe, bought from the Fabric Store in Melbourne about three years ago.  I was so in love with my vision of this particular dress, in this particular fabric that I was just like; oh, recommended fabrics, pfft.   I know I know, such a rebel, tut tut.  The recommended fabric is generally like a primary tenet of dress-making; that thou shalt ignore at thy peril and risk of permanent exclusion from the hallowed halls of sewing Utopia.
O woopsie.  *blush*
Well ok, I didn’t just gratuitously leap in and go for it helter skelter; I did measure to check feasibility.  I sized up, and also altered the snap tape placement to accommodate my shape; in a little bit in at the waist and out a little bit at the hips.  And it all worked out.  In fact it is pretty much exackertackerly just how I wanted it to be, so I’m happy!
the back tuck is on quite a slanted curve

Details:
Dress; Vogue 2438, chocolate/cream stripe cotton
Shoes; Perrini, had for so long I’ve forgotten where I bought them now.

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Cassie in burnt orange

26/12/2013 7:00 am \ 31 Comments \

I made a little tank dress with a matching top for Cassie… I’m hoping these will be very useful and versatile items in both her working and her weekend wardrobe.  The two pieces can be worn together as a smart/casual ensemble; also either the tank dress OR the loose top can be worn with a pencil skirt and cardigan to work; the tank dress can be worn alone or as a tunic with with jeans as a casual weekend option, or as a petticoat underneath a sheer dress; and the top can be worn with shorts or whatever.  And imho the colour is absolutely glorious with her strawberry blond hair!!

I bought the rich orange cotton-poly mesh from Tessuti’s in Melbourne during our weekend away together, and both pieces are self-drafted.  The tank dress is a pretty simple silhouette; but sewing it together was like an exercise in spatial thinking.  The fabric is completely sheer so I made it double-layered, both layers are completely sewn together before the whole dress was finally pulled right side through a gap in the lower hemline, which was hand slip-stitched closed as the very last thing.  Meaning, all the seams are enclosed between the two dress layers.  I was so pleased when it worked out successfully!  The fabric was lightweight enough that the whole thing could be bunched up and pulled through a 10cm gap quite easily.  The outer layer is 6cm longer than the inner layer, so the joining seam sits on the inside of the dress, 3cm from the lower fold.

below right; the finished dress was pulled right side out through the short gap in the hemline joining seam at lower right, now hand slip-stitched closed,

The top is also self-drafted, and loosely based upon the shape of the pieces in a very simple top that I’ve had for years, designed by a Melbourne company, tutte which seems to be no longer around.  Basically, the front and back panels are straight rectangles, and the side panels and sleeves are cut as one piece each, on the fold at the top of the sleeve/shoulder: like capital T’s with the downstroke as the sleeve.  

I cut the neckline as a gracefully curved scoop, extending and joining the front and back panels at the shoulder, and added double thickness “flaps” at the lower edge of the front and back that enclose the raw edges.  I hand-stitched the side panel lower edges and and sleeve hems in a narrow rolled edge, and finished the neckline with a long strip, stitched on the right side, turned under and hand-stitched around the inside.

Details:
Top and dress; self-drafted, in slightly stretchy cotton-poly mesh.  I think it could be this stuff…

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Red

28/11/2013 6:20 am \ 47 Comments \
So; red dress.
I pinned this dress a while ago because I really loved the little shawl collar and the shape of the bodice and wanted to reproduce it for myself.  I used a particularly nice, crisp and slightly slubby cotton from Fabulous Fabrics and the pattern is based on dress M from the Stylish Dress Book, modified as outlined below. I am pretty pleased with how my self-drafted collar turned out  🙂
It’s always nice to have a couple of fresh, new, cool and breezy little dresses ready for summer and so this one needs no other reason for being, really… but I confess a major reason for making it was also to have something to wear to the Wildcats games.  We got season tickets this year and had barely even entered the car park to attend the first game when I couldn’t help but notice that 99.99999% of the spectators were wearing brilliant cherry red. AAAgh!  Wardrobe alert!  When we were first married a gazillion years ago we used to go to all the Wildcats games but back then no one dressed in the team colours.  You just went along wearing whatever and cheered on your team.  Nowadays the crowd is a sea of red, red and more red.  If you’re not in red you stick out like a sore thumb.  Appropriately hued spectator attire was required, toute de suite.
Actually I do already have one bright red dress but basketball fans generally do not turn up wearing slinky cocktail dresses, ahem.  That would have looked even more weird.  This dress fits in nicely while still being a bit “different” from the mob.  My wardrobe ethos in a nutshell, really!
Additionally the dress has Christmas possibilities.  Festive, yet please note the capacity for accommodating a large lunch and the ease with which it can be lightly tossed on over bathers.  If Christmas Day is 40C like it has been for the past few years then yes.
Details:
Dress; modified dress M from the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori, red cotton
Sandals; c/o Misano
Some technical notes:  I modified the pattern by adding a gradual Mt Fuji shaped curve to the top of the front skirt and cutting away a slightly less sharp curve away from the lower edge of the front bodice.  To make the shawl collar I spliced together the back and front bodice pieces at the shoulder and traced around the neckline, adding a tiny wedge at the centre back for turn of cloth.  The dress has no closure because it is loose enough to just slip over my head.
I added slanted patch pockets for a change, just because inseam side pockets are taking over my wardrobe and I felt the need for some variety.  I like the invisibility of inseam pockets, but it is nice to have pockets as a visual feature on an otherwise plain
dress too.  These are sewn on at a slant for easy hand access and have a purely decorative folded flap at the top.
I also removed width from the sleeves, so they fit into the armscye with very little gathering.
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Sagittarius

16/11/2013 7:44 am \ 84 Comments \

 … the sign of the centaur/archer.  
My new dress doesn’t have a centaur, but it does have the next best thing… a horse!  Plus; the requisite bow.  And two arrow(head tab)s. 

Ha!  (mutters sotto voce) nailed it…  😀
This is made using pattern number 35, from Patrones 7, a magazine given to me by Merche in a little exchange we did last year; thanks Merche!  Cassie got to the magazine first and made this little top, and now I have something from it too  🙂

Um, so the dress turned out very… retro, I think.  This was not the effect I was going for, btw.  I was going for modern and summery.  I think I got WW2 era and autumnal.  Slip on a handknit woolly cardigan, put flesh-coloured nylons on my pegs, sensible brogues or wellies on my feet and victory curls in my hair; and this is exactly the kind of ensemble my grandmother would have worn as a young Englishwoman in the 40’s.  I didn’t think the pattern “looked” retro when I picked it for my dress, in fact I thought it rather modern and timeless.  Funny thing.  Seriously I have no idea what happened, twixt design and execution, but something sartorially timewarp-y happened.

The fabric is a mustard silk crepe, originally from Tessuti’s in Melbourne? I think?  I spray-printed a negative-space horse on the front skirt, and random spots all over the remainder of the dress pieces.  The dress is fully lined with silvery grey silk habotai from Fabulous Fabrics.  The greyness of the lining filled me with anxiety at first.  I could have got a perfect colour match if I’d chosen polyacetate lining but I had my heart set on silk habotai and grey was the least offensive choice.  I just went for it… and y’know? I’ve worn it a couple of times, and am so glad I did go with allover silk, because it is seriously sooo beautiful to wear!  We had 34C yesterday, and no kidding I felt like I was wearing nothing, the silk habotai is sheer heaven; divinely light-as-air and fluttery and slinkily gorgeous against the skin. 

Also; the colour.  (Sings) love it!  This project was an obvious contender for my swap, but I’m not going to count it since something else is going to be my one allowed thing before Christmas.  But of course the excellent thing is that both the colour and the style of the dress will fit in beautifully with my autumn wardrobe too.  And I can just enjoy wearing it on its own for now.  Yay!

The bodice is cut on grain, but the skirt pieces are cut on the bias.
Bias cut silk; for both dress and lining.  So yeah, ok; bias cut dresses look great and hang gorgeously, but they hog the fabric like nobody’s business and make for a dang masochistic sewing project!  Now I remember why I only make these very occasionally  😉
I sewed all seams as French seams, using strips of tissue paper to prevent those bias side edges from stretching out.  The closure is by invisible zip in the left side seam, and I stabilised the bias edge first by stitching a strip of the silk habotai selvedge to the seam allowance, like so.  Before hemming I left it hanging up for five days, and it was interesting that the bias didn’t drop out very much.  But it did just a bit; just enough to reiterate the old rule of thumb; yes, always hang a bias cut garment for several days before hemming!

I hand-sewed the sleeves and lower hem in a narrow rolled hem, but I got lazy with the lining and just whizzed it up on the machine.  Not a total masochist, then!

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Chequered Elisalex

13/10/2013 4:15 pm \ 98 Comments \

Hello!
A little while ago Liz contacted me to generously send her copy of the By Hand London Elisalex pattern to me.  Thank you so much Liz!  Obviously I leapt at the chance to try out this deservedly popular pattern  🙂
One of the most wonderful things about being part of this online sewing community is how we all openly and honestly share our love of sewing and our sewing experiences.  I’ve believe the sewing community to be such a friendly group of generous, upbeat and helpful women: so I really want to spread the love and pay it forward and all that, and in turn offer this pattern up to another… a giveaway!  Maybe this is a sorta blogging anniversary giveaway, since I have been blogging for four years as of last Friday, but really all the thanks and credit is due to Liz  🙂
As recommended in the pattern instructions, I traced my size onto white plastic table-clothing, which means that the original pattern is still in immaculate condition.  I refolded it carefully back into its factory folds;  I’m pretty expert at that, if I say so myself.  Years of pattern control-freak practice  😀  Anyway, it is all nicely and perfectly intact.  And the pattern packaging is exquisite, truly a thing of great beauty, with two nesting envelopes of high quality blue cardboard bearing elegant drawings of the three variations.  Seriously, this is a gorgeous thing!  So, if you would like this copy of the very popular Elisalex pattern  then please leave a comment saying so.  I will randomly pick a recipient this Thursday, 17th October.  
(Later edit: a commenter has pointed out that my giving away this pattern is morally “iffy” … obviously this is the very last thing I want! so I have decided to withdraw the offer.  My sincerest apologies to all, and my thanks for your kind comments and I will rustling up something different for a blogging anniversary giveaway very soon… please stay tuned  🙂  )

I bought this piece of black-and-ivory patchworked silk taffeta from Homecraft Textiles a while back, thinking about those Louis Vuitton shift dresses, and then had second thoughts since the silk is very thin and slightly floaty and so was really too light to work well in a structured shift dress design.  Shift dresses need a fabric with a bit of oomph.  

Louis Vuitton S/S 2013 RTW, source

I put the idea of a shift dress on ice, but as soon as I saw the big pouffy skirt on the Elisalex the silk leapt to my mind again.  The piece was wide but I only had 1.5m so pattern matching was the biggest challenge.  Also a lot of the squares were not exactly square but are slightly bigger and smaller here and there, and the corners don’t always match up perfectly.  I’m pretty pleased with how I managed to get the dress out of my small piece and got my squares, princess seams, corners and box pleats matching up not too badly.  The only area I am disappointed with is the junction between the skirt and bodice at the centre back, where the two ivory squares and two black squares are adjacent with each other and so there is one ivory and one black rectangle instead of squares and the chessboard effect falls into a heap! … but I think I can live with that little quirk.  Well, I have to because I wasn’t going to go out and buy more fabric just for that.  Although I will admit that I considered it  😉  I have the smallest mere scraps leftover, so I did make very good use of my piece.

My dress is fully lined with cream-coloured polyacetate lining fabric.  The pattern does not mention lining the skirt, so I cut the skirt pieces out as narrower versions of the skirt pattern pieces without the extra “pouffe” at the side edges.  I also chose to add huge inseam side pockets, because well duh!  Sorry to sound like a broken record on the subject, but in my view this design was just screaming out for pockets!! For the pockets I used a lightweight ivory swiss dotted cotton voile.

Details:
Dress: By Hand London Elisalex dress, patchwork silk
Tights; self-drafted, black wool, details here
Shoes; Misano, from Labels boutique

Pattern
Description:

An elegant dress with a princess seamed, fully lined bodice, box pleated tulip skirt and exposed zip at centre back.  There are three sleeve variations and the bodice is designed with very little ease to enhance a cinched waist.
Pattern
Sizing:
UK 2-16; US 6-20,  Based on my bust and waist measurements I made the size 6/10 and it fits perfectly
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
Yes.
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
The instructions are warm, encouraging and friendly and would put the beginner seamstress immediately at ease.  There is some idle chit-chat; I’m not criticising, just observing… for example; “Find a quiet room and a big table.  A girl’s gotta concentrate, especially when getting ready to cut out”  (this particular girl cut out on the living room floor while watching the telly, but then I’ve always been a rebel) … But at the same time some key little sewing steps are missing; tips that I believe are really necessary to get a good finish in your garment and that a beginner wouldn’t “just know”.  For example; to fit the bodice curve in the princess seam, you really should ease stitch the side bodice pieces.  And under-stitching the seam allowances of the armholes and neckline is always a good idea too.
Step 8; very wordy with no pictures, opening with “this is a little fiddly and unfortunately impossible to clarify with a drawing …” really? Vogue manages to illustrate this step with a drawing in their instructions for this very same technique.  Vogue also mentions and illustrates ease stitching and under-stitching in their instructions too.  Just saying.
The “what you need” section is a little baffling, commencing somewhat hilariously with “your fabric” and then going on to list such things like pins, zipper foot and tape measure.  The actual fabric quantities you need are printed elsewhere; down at the bottom left in an inconspicuous little table.
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Likes: The whole design is absolutely lovely.  The size of the skirt pattern pieces gave me pause at first, but when I had basted them together and tried it on I was enchanted with the gorgeous feminine silhouette it gave.  The bodice is a beautiful fit and looks really elegant both front and back views, too.
The pattern itself is beautifully packaged; this is an exceptionally high quality product.
Dislikes: There are NO metric measurements, whatsoever.  This is just about inexcusable in a modern pattern.
I was
surprised that the pattern didn’t have pockets considering that the big pouffy skirt could so easily accommodate them.  Fortunately it is super easy to put them in yourself.
Considering that the skirt has a tulip silhouette curving in towards the hemline, one would normally measure the desired length of the skirt before cutting out, in order to plan and accordingly cut the side edges so the hem allowance juts out; so that it can be turned under to sit flat against those angled side seams.  The pattern piece doesn’t allow for this and it isn’t mentioned in the instructions, so I sure hope a novice seamster wouldn’t think it is their mistake when they end up with a hem allowance too narrow to turn under smooth and flat…
Fabric
Used:
Patch-worked silk taffeta
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
Pockets  🙂  
My dress is fully lined; I cut the skirt lining as a narrower version of the pattern pieces removing some of the pouffe and folding narrower box pleats in the same spots.
I chose to insert an invisible zip rather than use an exposed zip, as it suited the style of dress I had in mind.
Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, I will definitely sew this again!  A really beautiful and classic design.  For winter I would sew this in a rich tapestry or an upholstery type of fabric, with the sleeves.  This is a sure thing in my future.
And
yes  🙂
Conclusion:
Technically, the absence of metric measurements is quite annoying, and the instructions could do with more finishing tips and details to help beginners.  
Design-wise; it is an absolutely beautiful and classic design, and I am very pleased with how mine turned out.  
Packaging: exquisitely packed, and of very high quality and eco-friendly materials.   For the connoisseur of really beautiful patterns.
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Snowy-white Nougat

27/09/2013 11:35 am \ 42 Comments \

The clever AnaJan of Stepalica is designing patterns now!  and I was honoured when she very kindly sent to me her debut design, the Nougat dress to try out.  Thank you so much Ana!
The Nougat is a classic, waisted, sleeveless A-line dress with a pretty swirly-skirted silhouette and closure by invisible zip in the left side seam.  Where the pattern is extremely clever however, is that it includes three variations of various degrees of difficulty, meaning there is a something for all skill levels.  If you want a challenge then version A with its multiple curved seams will give you a good one; if you want a pretty, A-line dress then version C delivers this too.  I went for the trickiest version A for my first go, but the one pattern includes all pattern pieces and instructions for the two progressively more simplified versions B and C, and there are comprehensive instructions to walk you through constructing the more fiddly bits of the more advanced version A.  I was a bit late for the Nougat sewalong, but I consulted Ana’s posts when I did get around to making my own version, and I found all her sewalong instructions to be detailed, thorough and very helpful.

Ana suggested for the bodice and skirt yoke pieces to be cut from different colours of fabric, to enhance and showcase the swirl effect of the piecing.  The seaming can be seen far better on Ana’s very impressive blue version of the dress here with absolutely perfect seam joining!  However, I really just wanted a lovely fresh plain white dress to ring in summer, so used a small portion of an embarrassingly ginormous quantity of white fabric that I have stuffed in bags in the cupboard under the stairs  (mwahaha)  This fabric originally spent a few years as pictured below.  Until I decided that big white swags of fabric decoratively framing a bedhead were a haven for spiders as well as pretty passe.  I took it down many years ago, but obviously I kept all that wonderful fabric!  It is actually very nice fabric; a mixture of synthetic organza and chiffon which means of course that the dress can be just tossed in the washing machine, will drip dry, and will never ever need ironing.  Yeesssss!

before…

 The bodice and skirt yokes are made of double layered organza, with the inner/lining layer a plainer version of the pattern, relatively un-pieced apart from a few basic shaping seams and darts.  Because all my fabrics are pretty fray-tastic plus see-through, I put quite lot of thought into how I could stabilise all those raw edges.  There are so many of them in this multi-pieced design!  I didn’t want to overlock because the stitching would show through and be super obvious on the outside of the dress.  So for the organza bodice and skirt yokes I sewed the seams, pressed open, trimmed the seam allowances quite narrow with my cutting wheel, and then double top-stitched each side of each seamline.  I posted a close-up picture of the seam detail on photo maisonette last week. 
The skirt is actually three separate identical chiffon skirts, layered.  One is attached to the shell of the dress, the other two sandwich the lower edge of the lining.  Each side seam is sewn in French seams, and I finished the lower edges of each skirt using the rolled hem stitch on my overlocker.  I do really love the romantic ripply look of the layered skirts.  The design is a very lovely shape.  Very twirl-tastic, yes?  I did a twirl photo, just because.  Hehe, one of my pictures revealed that I am a fairly grim-faced twirler.  I am so impressed by people that can twirl and have a happy, carefree facial expression at the same time.  Me, I need to concentrate on not falling over!

I am wearing my new ivory summer sandals too.  Aren’t they lovely? Obviously ivory is one of my favourite colours anyway, no matter what the season, and I really like the woven wedge heel too.  These will be appearing in lots more summer piccies to come!
Making my dress was not all plain sailing.  There are boo-boos.  I didn’t notice at first that the two halves of the back bodice were different to each other and so mistakenly constructed it as a mirror image of one side; therefore three of my seam lines on the right side of the dress do not join up.  One on the shoulder, one on the bodice and one on the skirt/bodice seam.  Rats.  But since I did use just one colour you can’t really tell without super up-close inspection, hehe.  My other seams all mostly join up  😉

Details:
Dress; the Nougat dress by Stepalica patterns, white organza and chiffon
Sandals; c/o Misano shoes
it’s hard to know what to do with your arms when taking side view piccies… 

Pattern
Description:
The Nougat is a classic, waisted, sleeveless A-line dress with a pretty swirly-skirted silhouette and closure by invisible zip in the left side seam.  The pattern includes three variations of various degrees of difficulty, the most advanced option has a complex swirled twisted diamond motif in the front bodice, with sunburst seamlines radiating out and then back in again to join together at the left hip. 
Pattern
Sizing:
European size
32-44. I cut a size 34 in the bodice, grading out from the waist to a size 38 at the hip level.  Because of these personal sizing changes I also cut the skirt pieces to be a bit more flared going down to the hemline than the pattern to give a better look proportionally.
Did
it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished
sewing it?
Yes.
Were
the instructions easy to follow?
The instructions are very clear and well written, and very helpful.  I definitely needed them for that complex diamond motif! but I did use some of my own preferred sewing construction techniques for some of the basics.
What
did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
The silhouette is not one I would normally go for, and I quite thrilled with how much I like it.  I really love the line of the skirt.
I really enjoyed the challenge of sewing the diamond motif and in spite of a few boo-boos I am pleased with how it all came together.
Fabric
Used:
Synthetic organza for the bodice and skirt yoke and chiffon for the skirt 
Pattern
alterations or any design changes you made:
I stuck pretty closely with the original design, and just cut the skirt a bit more flared for my version.  I sewed double rows of topstitching flanking each seamline on the bodice and skirt yokes, both to visually define them better and to anchor and stabilise the seam allowances and guard against fraying.
Would
you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I think I only need one of version A in my wardrobe since it is quite a distinctive design, but I would definitely sew either of versions B or C again.  I recommend version A to the advanced seamster looking for a challenge.
Conclusion:
I am very pleased with it!  I really wanted a white dress for summer which is why I went for a solid colour version of the pattern, and now it reminds me of an old-fashioned tennis dress.  There is something quaint and ladylike and yet still sporty about the silhouette that I really like.  The seaming is really interesting, and I am in love with the swishiness of the skirt.
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