All change – and a Deer and Doe Bleuet…

Hello

It has been a long time since my last post – again!  I have done some sewing since then but not as much as I had hoped and I have failed to get round to taking pictures until now – even though the longer days have given me no excuse.

Life has basically been getting in the way – I am starting a new job in London  very soon – bonus sewing points for finding a job only one tube stop away from Goldhawk Road though! Weekends have been taken up by sorting out our house and time for sewing has been limited. For the next few months I will be away from home during the week so I will inevitably sew less. It’s going to be a year of big changes which is exciting but also a bit scary!I have managed to make a dress though – the pattern is Deer and Doe Bleuet. I bought the pattern at the Sewbrum meet up, very much influenced by Tasia’s pink linen version posted on the Sewaholic blog last summer.

I cut a 40 at the shoulder, grading out to 42 at the waist and 44 at the hip. I made a quick toile and found that I only needed a few adjustments which was a total win – the thought of endless fitting issues has been putting me off complex projects in recent months.I adjusted the princess seams very slightly for a better fit around the bust – adding  slightly more width above the bust and slightly less below. I narrowed the shoulder to remove an excess ‘fold’ of fabric between the shoulder and bust. I also lengthened the pattern about two and a half inches as it is intended to be quite short and I wanted a bit more coverage.

I omitted the bow at the back waist because I am not 8 and I omitted the puffy sleeves because I often struggle with sleeve fitting and I don’t love puffy sleeves – I feel as if the dress is much sleeker without those details?The fabric is a medium weight linen cotton type mix from Abakhan remnants – they have such a mixture of different types of linen mix – some are very stiff and rough, but this was fairly heavy but soft and with a nice drape. I was quite heavily influenced by the black linen dresses that Heather at Closet Case Files posted last summer here and here and although I have worn this with tights recently I am looking forward to wearing it with sandals – as I am here – when my legs are less pasty white!The drafting is spot on and the collar came together beautifully – I used the Four Square Walls tutorial as usual. I did fail to get a buttonhole on the collar stand – I gave up after unpicking two failures and luckily I am perfectly happy not to wear it completely buttoned up.

I am very pleased with the final dress and I have already cut out another (and mostly sewed it up!) which is always a positive sign. I think this might be my new ideal summer shirt dress!

Anyone else trying something new this spring?