I was given this piece of Art Gallery cotton poplin fabric by Minerva to create the brand ambassador post and I was struggling to decide what to make with it. That is until I was watching an episode of the Fold Line where they were matching patterns to outfits from ‘And Just Like That’, which, by the way, I haven’t watched yet. They recommended a pattern for a dress that Miranda was wearing in one of the episodes and that moment helped me make a decision.

This crisp, light as a feather cotton lawn comes in an abstract striped pattern in red pinks and a bluish-black colour scheme. This is the first time that I’ve used an Art Gallery fabric and I must admit I had a bit of the “Can’t cut the precious” angst before going ahead with this project. It sometimes takes me a long time to choose the right project and it was more so with this one because I just didn’t want to mess up and waste this lovely fabric.

The stripe goes across the fabric but I decided I wanted them vertical because I still subscribe to that idea of stripes elongating you, so I cut my patterns cross-grain.

I love a dress with a shirttail hem so I adapted that using a French curve to smooth the line. I also decided to omit the invisible zip in the front as I thought even my big head would fit through that large opening. If you decide to do this adjustment, I’d recommend cutting your front in one piece on the fold and adjusting the facing to fit. However, you would definitely need a front opening if you were to sew the jumpsuit version because you have to get your whole body out of it, not just your head.

The construction of this couldn’t be simpler: the front and back have a centre seam you close that then sew up the shoulders. Insert the facing and then do the side seams and that’s the top done. Moving onto the lower part of the dress it has inseam pockets that are attached to the skirt pieces before the sides are joined up. Then you finish the hem. I used bias tape to hem the curve. Do beware though, the top pieces are quite similar and I almost mistook the waist hem for the sleeves when joining it up.

It has a lovely detail reminiscent of an obi style belt. You can make this in a self-fabric which is lovely, but I’m going to add one in white faux suede so you can actually see it. I do love a tie waist detail to accentuate the waistline.

This will of course be more of a spring and summer dress so it might be a little while before I can wear it on its own. It will be in my luggage for my next trip to a warmer place.

Thanks for dropping by,

N.B. A version of this blog appears on the Minerva website under my profile.