merino dress

Here's a dress I made a few weeks ago. It's made from beautiful fine New Zealand merino wool knit.

(Do I ever take those boots off? Um yeah, when I go to bed.)
I was very pleased with this dress when I finished it and I've been really enjoying wearing it so I'm not sure why I'm feeling a little uninspired to write about it. Maybe because the thrill of having it newly finished has passed? Do you find that?
Anyhow, on with the details.
Fabric: was very reasonably priced, from this Etsy shop (as opposed to $45/m from the shop around the corner, which I really want to support, but...).
Pattern: began with the Sew U Home Stretch boatneck top, like my blue stripey one. Since the merino doesn't have a huge amount of stretch, I gave it a wee bit more room across the bust and shoulders by the incredibly un-technical move of slanting the pattern piece away from the fold of the fabric slightly at the top. I cut the neckline just a bit lower at the front. Then I added a drapey cowl-ish neck.

I measured the length of the neckline and cut a long rectangle the same length (small added seam allowance), sewed it into a circle, doubled it over and sewed it on.
I made the sleeves extra-long for winterish warmth. Edges left raw cos I can... let's call it a style thing.

Purple has to be the hardest colour to capture in photographs. This is really a very deep, dark purple, kind of like if you started with navy blue then purpled it up.
I wore the top part around for a day with a skirt on just to get the feel of it and see what to do about adding a skirt. I decided I liked the way it crumpled around my waist and that I wanted to maintain that in a dress.
To make the skirt I measured the bottom of the top and cut a six-panelled skirt that would match that width at its top. It's slightly a-line at each seam so there was no way it would end up too clingy. I just winged it really, making one pattern piece for the centre panel (front and back) and one pattern piece for the four side panels (front and back) but I did make a test version out of scrap to make sure it would work.
I sewed that to the top and then made a wide drawstring casing which covers the waist seam. Edges are raw here and on the bottom of the skirt. Made a tube of fabric for the drawstring.

And there you have it.

Cosy comfy purple dress!

- Jane x

Update - forgot to ask - does anyone have any ideas for adding a pocket to this? Or should I just keep stuffing a hanky up my sleeve?

Sew U Home Stretch dress: before and after Jane-ification

I have a bit of a velour fixation at the moment. I ordered some more online but when this arrived, had a bit of a 'what was I thinking?' moment because the colour was a bit too pinkish for any of the boys.

So, something for me then. I wouldn't normally pick this particular hue so I'm not really sure what came over me. Some sort of velour madness. Anyway, let's call it a challenge and get on with it, yes?

I pulled out my Sew U Home Stretch book, from which I've made a boatneck top that I wear a lot.
I used the Size L standard bodice pattern and added some width to the skirt so I could put in a few strategic gathers. I cut the skirt longer too 'just in case'.

Since this was quite experimental, I basted it all together with a large zigzag stitch and tried it on.

Fit: pretty good. 

Overall effect: something between Amish and a dress I would have topped off with a really awkward haircut, circa 1984.

Alterations I then made: 

- shorten bodice a few inches (see where I have pins in the photo above)

- create keyhole neckline and bind in colourful printed jersey

- chop sleeves to three-quarters and finish with same colourful jersey

- shorten skirt

- add pockets with same trim.

Result:

(I thought another bad light photo in the same crappy by-the-fridge location was only fair to truly compare the before and after.)

It feels kind of 'me' now. Jane-ificated.
Would it be more age appropriate for a four year old than a forty-one year old? Probably.
Do I care? Not a lot.
It's really, really comfy. And really comfy dresses with pockets are big winners in my wardrobe.
Besides, Clem whispered to me as I was finishing it off "I think you should never never wear t-shirts because you should always wear dresses because I like you wearing dresses".

And because I don't just want to post rubbish photos of me, here are some from a beautiful lunch we had today with Andy's sister and her family - a gift from them for Andy's 40th - at the ridiculously idyllic Kingsbrook Estate.

- Jane x