I've been wanting to move my blog away from Blogspot for a while but could never be bothered to actually do it. This week was the tipping point though, and I've now fully migrated over to https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . The blogspot address will remain here but all new posts will only appear at https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . There are lots of reasons for the move but my biggest one is how hard Blogger has made it for people to subscribe to receive new posts via email. It's such a basic requirement but apparently, they think it's too much to offer. I'm basing this purely on how I myself prefer to consume this stuff. I can't be arsed with feed readers anymore and emails are easy and convenient. When I receive one, if I fancy reading it, I will click through to it and, if not, I'll just delete it. Another reason is the spat between Google (owners of Blogger) and Instagram/Facebook/Meta. I don't even know if this is still the case anymore
Every so often I will come across a fabric that I *have* to buy otherwise I know I will regret it forever. In fact, this isn't exclusive to fabric. I still remember a suede jacket I once thought about buying but decided not to. Sixteen years on, the fact I didn't buy it still haunts me...
This is how I ended up getting this fabric. I saw it on a Sew Over It vlog, paused the video halfway and bought the fabric immediately. I had no idea what I'd make with it but it didn't matter, I just had to have it. Then, I allowed it to languish in my stash for about 2 years. I hate to admit that, at times, I even forgot I had it...
Once I started thinking about what I wanted to make for our summer holiday, I decided I had to do something with this fabric. The trick was to keep things simple. The pattern would have to be a simple one so as not to clash with the big floral print. I also didn't have a lot of it, just 2 metres.
After a lot of consideration, I eventually settled on McCall's 7533.
The dress has an all-in-one facing and I french-seamed the sides as well, so the finishing inside is clean and professional. I also skipped the interfacing on the facings. Sometimes, no matter how light the interfacing, it still stiffens up the neckline and I can't get it to sit as flat as it should. I've done this a couple of times with cotton garments and have had no issues yet.
I wouldn't recommend it for everything, but so far it's worked out well for me.
As for shaping, there are bust darts at the front but nothing at the back. It closes with a concealed zip and it was a one afternoon project. I hemmed it with a blind hem, which is my preferred method. I think it really works with the rest of the dress, letting the print be the star of the show.
I love this print so much. The colours are so rich and work very well together. I actually wish I'd bought more than I did.
The fabric is gorgeously soft. It's a cotton lawn that was great to work with and is lovely to wear. I've only worn it once and it was a bloody hot day, but I was comfortable (well, as much as could have been) and the lack of sleeves was definitely the right choice. The dress only took less than 1.5m of fabric so there's a bonus project making its way on to this very blog soon.
Pattern: McCall's M7533
Version: view B
Size: 10
Changes: omitted interfacing
Fabric: cotton lawn