Years ago, when fabric shopping, a kind yet mad woman wrapped me up in a makeshift sari, telling me that I would look make a "beautiful bride" for her son. I laughed the whole thing off, insisting that I was involved, unwrapped myself from the fabric and bought what I needed.
What I hadn't seen is she'd thrown in a length of the fabric she'd wrapped around me, and told me "not to tell her husband." I was confused at the time, but once I'd got home and seen the fabric, I promised to make something pretty out of it and fondly remember the crazy woman.
Approximately four years later - I've finally used the fabric in a dress!
This dress uses the bodice from Butterick B5880, omitting the neckline notches, and has a pleated dirndl instead of the sarong skirt - and pockets!
 | |||
| All photos are taken by my boyfriend in his parent's house in Onchan, Isle of Man. |
I'm going to assume the fabric is a voile of some kind, and it's frankly slippy as f-. Trying to get the checks to line up was a time consuming and ultimately fruitless labour of love.
But the fabric itself was nice to work with - it presses really quite crisp, isn't so bad for fraying and my favourite part - you can shove it in a washing machine with no problem!
The dress itself, I love. This is my favourite make so far, if I'm honest. The bodice is roomy without making me look frumpy - and it surprised me by being a high neckline and not looking horrible on. And the pleated skirt I'm impressed by, I'd never made a pleated skirt before this, and it went by with only one problem - I had to take out pleats in the front for not having enough fabric! But it worked out nicely, I like the flatter front as it doesn't make me look pregnant, which is always a bonus.
This is one of those dresses that works nicely on a night out, but also for day activities if you fancy a little luxury in your day! The only problem is that this fabric completely absorbs sunlight, and whilst I was standing directly under the sun whilst on the Isle of Man, I was certain I was going to end up catching fire.
- Fabric:
Black and silver check voile [stash]
Black cotton [stash] - Pattern:
Butterick B5880 - Pattern Alterations:
Omitted neckline notches, Replaced sarong skirt with pleated dirndl and patch pockets. - Notions:Invisible zip
- Make again?:
Definitely! The whole dress is so comfortable, hangs beautifully and feels like a dream to wear! The bodice is roomy without being unflattering, which is so nice. - Total price: £0!
Melody ♪
