The Spanish Dress

More unseasonably hot Sydney weather has lead to more UFO's being finished so I have something to wear! (My off season clothes are stored at my Mum's). I only started this dress a few weeks ago, but this burst of spring heat led me to madly finish it off last night to wear today.

The fabric for this dress is a special one. Last year, my best friend went to Spain and brought this back for me. I am making her a skirt, and I got the leftover yardage to play with. I decided to go with a dress, as the colour is not something I would usually wear, and I didn't think it would get too much wear as separates.

The pattern is a mash up of two of my favourites: Simplicity 2444 for the bodice, and Simplicity 6862 (the amazing one metre skirt pattern) for the bottom. The fabric is quite stiff, so I decided a flared skirt would do nicely; it certainly has a lot of body.

This was a very quick and simple make: the zip is handpicked, the neckline is faced, and the armholes and hem are finished with bias tape. I love the shape of this; it's definitely one I'd like to try again.

I've paired it up here with my white sandals and pearls thanks to some styling advice from Mum; it's such a good summery combination (even if it is meant to be winter).

So this is another successful dress which I will get a lot of wear out of come summer. I wore it today to my new job; I am teaching at the university's ancient history museum, so I had a fun morning grossing kids out with Egyptian mummies.

Butterick 5281 The Wearable Muslin

Hello again! I have missed blogging here. I have been knee deep in sewing since I last posted, but mysteriously I do not seem to be completing garments to share- the sirens call of cutting out a new project is sometimes too hard to resist. I feel I must soon do another UFO finishing spree. I have been posting a lot over on Instagram though if you follow me there.

Back in April I posted about not making my graduation dress due to running out of time! At this stage the muslin was basically finished (besides the hem) but with winter bearing down on Sydney, I put the dress to one side. Yesterday was an incredibly warm day, so the night before I pulled out the dress, and quickly finished it off, so I could have a chance to wear it. This dress is great. The pattern fits fantastically, it's so comfortable, and I got a lot of compliments, which I think is always a good thing when you're trying out a new silhouette. I am now getting more excited about making my LBD version.

The pattern is Butterick 5281, a 1946 reproduction, and therefore is also part of this years vintage pledge. The fabric is an IKEA bedspread cover I found opshopping, and was also used as the wearable muslin for my Smooth Sailing blouse.

I didn't have to make extensive changes to the pattern- I cut the bodice as a 12, and the skirt as a 14, which I have to do with slim skirts. I also took a good deal of length out of the bodice, but this is a standard alteration. If you are making this pattern, definitely muslin it. The bodice especially has a lot of subtle detail, and it's fully lined, including the sleeves. For this version, I didn't line the skirt, but that was to do with running out of lining fabric!

I have included the line drawing here so you can get a good idea of the pattern, I was very much drawn to the asymmetrical style lines; although the dress is a typical 1940's silhouette it makes it quite unique.

This is definitely going to be a pattern I use a lot, the dress is incredibly wearable, and I can see it easily becoming a favourite summer dress.