I love the print design ‘Anaconda Antithesis’ and already have a dress in the cotton lawn substrate. The first dress is my TNT sleeveless shirt dress with a collar, lapels, button through bodice and skirt, gathered skirt and concealed side seam pockets.
Original version of Anaconda Antithesis
For my new dress in this print I wanted a change of style so this one is the Moira #4. Moira has sleeves, a scoop neckline, no buttons, a raised waistline with back ties, full gathered skirt and concealed side seam pockets.
I did not want to break up the print design, this version of Moira does not have the deep hem frill. I attached a skirt lining of viscose voile to the bodice lining using a French seam and added a beautiful lace trim to the hem. This fashion fabric was quite expensive at £15.99/metre and I had wanted to add a few special details to this simply-styled dress.
For the fashion fabric skirt I simply cut two widths each 34 inches long which were then gathered onto the bodice. I added my usual concealed side seam pockets. The seams, including the pockets are French seamed. When I tried on the dress to check the gathers etc I found that had a startling resemblance to a Galleon in full sail – not the look I was after!
Voluminous Skirt!
I removed the skirt panels from the bodice and reduced the volume by cutting out a panel from the back skirt so that there was a centre back seam. For the front skirt panel I did not want to lose the print at centre front so I cut two smaller pieces either side of the centre front panel so this is now a 3-panel front skirt. Unfortunately I was over zealous in removing volume and now the skirt is narrower than I really wanted but ‘hey-ho’ that’s how it is going to stay. The hem of the skirt is hand stitched in place.
The bodice is lined with viscose voile and has facings in the fashion fabric. The sleeves have French seams and a double folded hem that is hand stitched. Once again I have added a self-fabric tie belt that has been set into the side seams.
Reduced Volume Skirt
I have to say that I feel this dress is mostly a ‘fail’, typical that it should happen with one of the more expensive lengths of fabric – the cotton lawn. Now I am wondering if the pattern is not really suitable for this substrate and I would be better served by sticking to viscose for ‘Moira’. The next version will be made from a pretty Autumnal print viscose that I bought from an eBay seller for just £4.99/metre.
project #64 completed 9th November 2020