Sometime ago Sian of Kittenish Behaviour filmed a ‘sewalong’ for this dress. I was inspired and purchased the pattern. However, the pattern sat in my stash for a long time before I finally got around to making a ‘wearable toile’ of the design.
For the fabric I used a new Superking sized cotton/polyester duvet cover bought during a sale at Dunelm, Salisbury branch last year. I made view B with the additional bodice ruffle as featured in View C.
As shown by Sian, I cut the ruffles in two layers and thus avoided having to make narrow rolled hems and also where the ‘wrong’ side showed, it was the same fabric as the ‘right’ side. There was insufficient fabric to make the ruffles in the same print as the main dress but I felt the use of the reverse of the duvet cover would be a good compromise.
I checked the pattern measurements and sizing and cut the largest size – 22. I decided to ignore the centre seam of the butterfly sleeves and taped the front and back pattern pieces together (overlapped by the seam allowance). I also reduced the sleeve length by 1½ inches. I added concealed side seam pockets to my usual pattern and although I was a little unsure about the lengths of the bodice and skirt, left them according to the original pattern.
As my overlocker was still threaded with dark thread, I stitched all the seams with French seams. I also used Sian’s method of finishing the edges of the skirt with self bias binding. Thus, the dress is beautiful both inside and out. Unfortunately it does not fit very well!
The crossover of the wrap bodice is very low so I will have to wear a camisole/vest underneath and the wrap on the skirt is almost indecent so I will need to wear an underskirt of some description (probably my vintage cotton with eyelet frilled hem). Having to wear additional underwear rather defeats the object of a light and floaty summer dress!
I love the design of this dress and will certainly make again but next time I think I will draft from my own using my TNT bodice and skirt blocks to ensure that I have sufficient wrap on the top and skirt. I will certainly be adding circular ruffles to this and other dressmaking projects in the future as I just love them!
Completed 8th March 2020.