A Winter Eva Dress

 

I bought this fabric in a sale about a year ago.  It is a seersucker type fabric in a blend of linen/cotton and wool, in a deep raisin colour.  As soon as I saw it, I pictured it as a winter Eva dress (I have previously made three linen versions for summer).  A year and a second lockdown later my dress has been made.

Unfortunately I think the fabric is the wrong choice for this dress pattern.  It fits well, but I think the crinkles make the lantern style skirt effect a lot more pouffier and pronounced.

I have given it a wash to see if that will soften the fabric and hopefully it may lose some of the volume. At this point I feel it makes me look as though I'm wearing a maternity dress and I don't feel as though I have the confidence to wear it happily out in public.  I may wear it around the house while in lockdown, but I suspect this will be something I consider a sewing fail and it will end up being donated to an op shop.

The Red Lois Dress

The Scout and I have a wedding to go to in early March.  It is going to be a garden wedding,  so I figured it was a good excuse to make a new dress.  My tried and tested Lois dress pattern was hauled out, some beautiful rayon purchased just before Christmas with my sister, was prewashed and starched to make cutting slightly easier.  This was the first time I had sewn anything bigger than a top with rayon, so I was quite worried about how it would work.  Also the first time using my invisible zipper foot - gosh that makes a difference.

I lengthened the skirt by 3", the last one I made sat just under my knee, and I knew I wanted a longer more floaty dress this time.  The low v bodice,  I ended up stitch up another .5" ,  Overall it was an easy make, I suspect the hem is a little uneven in places, but with the dress being floaty and drapey,  I don't think anyone will notice.

I had the good fortune  to find the perfect shoes to wear with it too, in the New Year sales, so now I'm hoping for a fine and warm day to enjoy wearing it.

Lois Dress

Well that's another dress knocked off the bucket list.  This time the Lois dress from Tessuti Fabrics.

I had long admired all the Lois dresses I had seen, some in linen, some in silk or rayon.  Mine is made from a soft cotton I bought from Draper's Fabrics.

On the whole the dress was as an easy make, Tessuti patterns have clear written and photographic instructions. I made a size 8 and cut the hem length only for size 12 to make it a little longer.

The only really challenging part was inserting the invisible zipper into the dart and side seam.  I know that mine isn't perfect, and some of that could be because I don't have an invisible zipper foot for my machine.  However I can live with a little imperfection.  I had hoped I could get away with the dress not needing a zip, a lot of other makers had said the dress sized up larger and they could get it over their heads without one - no such luck for me.

I knew it had a low cut neckline, I have yet to decide whether to stitch it up a little or just make sure I wear my low cut push up bra for maximum impact with it.  Obviously if I stitch it up a little, it is more work suitable.

I didn't put the bands on the sleeves - the downside of using a directional print became rather obvious with the bias cut bands, I simply made a bias binding and bound them as I did on the Eva dress,

Overall, I'm pleased with the look and fit of the dress, I'm not sure if I would make this pattern again, however maybe that's just the fear of zips putting me off though.  I am loving wearing dresses at present,  in this lovely summer weather we are experiencing.