Tuesday 30 September 2014

Summer's last hurrah: technicolour Tessuti Eva

September mornings, March mornings: it's the same thing every time the seasons turn. I waste so many precious pre-work minutes, rifling through my wardrobe and trying on every possible combination - desperately seeking something to wear that won't be too hot / too cold / too much what I got bored with wearing last year.  And my heart is hardly in it, because my mind is still fixated on the previous season's sewing, which is only just finished and not worn enough yet.  Stop the clocks!! YEGADS I STILL HAVE SUMMER DRESSES TO BE GETTING IN!




And yes, this is one such dress.  In fact, this is the summer dress I wish wish WISH I had made in spring. It is so much my perfect summer dress that I do real scowls to myself when I think I could have been wearing it so much more this year than I actually was.  I made it at the end of July, just one short month before the weather began to turn - and much of that month, I spent in Scandinavia.  It was killing me that I couldn't wear it for the cold IN AUGUST!




All the more irritating because I had the idea in January and for NO REASONS didn't get round to it.  January was when the second belgo-blogger sewing meet happened, this time in Antwerp, and the first of my many fabric purchases that day was this technicoloured chevron wax print. No such thing as Enough Wax Print - I absolutely adore the stuff!!  I'm not sure what exactly inspired me to pair it with the Tessuti Eva dress pattern, but once that thought was in my head there was no getting out, and now I've FINALLY made and worn the dress I can assure you: that was one Bloody Good Thought.

I made the sleeveless version, obviously. The armholes could do with lowering slightly for me and I have some pulling towards the shoulder seams, but basically the fit is lovely.  Of course, apart from the bodice, it hardly needs fitting anyway - the great attraction of this dress is in the lovely, breezy lantern skirt.




It's a shape best demonstrated side-on, but I was having great trouble getting a decent picture, and attempts to hold some kind of  prop were unsuccessful (darn cats, couldn't they just cooperate??)  So here I selflessly put my flabby upper arm on the internet so you can see how the dress hangs:




You can see that it's roomy and, despite the relatively structured fabric, rather flowy.  This makes it both extremely comfortable and extremely flattering (I know I say this about most of my makes! I guess comfy is just how I choose to sew, and I've FINALLY figured out what actually flatters) The skirt shaping comes from eight panels pieced together, and because of the grain placement I couldn't match up the chevrons particularly well, even with 6 yards of the fabric. I went for just being sure that things matched up well down the centre front and back, unfortunately with limited success (and with a lot of large but oddly-shaped remnants left over).  Anyway, in real life everybody is stunned by the print itself into not noticing whether the chevrons align or not.

In other real-life info: this dress is also perfect for pigging out in - I'd wear this rather than my Anna to a barbecue any day :-)




And BY GOD I SHALL WEAR IT AS A TRANSITIONAL PIECE! Draughts be damned! Slap a cardi and a loud scarf with pompoms on it!!

Are you good at seasonal wardrobe planning, sewing and wearing?  Or do you too suffer months of clothing indecision only to have it resolved a mere three weeks before the next season rolls round?


20 comments:

  1. I am so glad that you did a review of this dress. I bought the pattern to make this dress for a winter vacation in some hot spot. I had doubts because of the fullness but yours looks so good. I go through the same feelings when seasons change. Still sewing summer stuff when autumn arrives. You did a good job with this dress and the colors are great.

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  2. I think doubts about the shape were probably what made me leave it so long too! I'd seen it look nice on others but couldn't quite imagine it working on me. But it really does - particularly being larger-busted, I was surprised how the skirt sort of balances me out and the top isn't restrictive. So I'd definitely recommend it if you're heading somewhere warm!

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  3. I'm wishing I had a dress like this for the summer! It is so flattering and those colors are amazing. I think the pattern placement down the front is really eye catching, in a good way! Also, the colors totally work for fall and layering. Gaah I just want to gush, it looks awesome :)

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  4. You are so cute! I love watching you find what works for you through sewing. I'm trying to get there too. Really enjoy reading your blog, thanks for writing!

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  5. Gorgeous print, your placement of the chevrons is perfect too it's a very sweet cut and I love that you can use it as a transitional garment

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  6. Love this dress, such a great silhouette. The combination of the print and silhouette is just perfect. LOVE! and looks super comfy:)

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  7. Aw thanks Elena! I wish everyone had a dress like this for summer! And I really think the Eva pattern would work well with all sorts of different fabrics, prints & textures - it's a great canvas to work on :-)

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  8. Thank you Karin, what a nice thing to say! It does take a long time to figure out what works, doesn't it? To be honest I hardly even realised that's what I was working towards, until being quite amazed by things turning out well this summer and realising that's kind of what had happened. Good luck with your journey too!

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  9. Thank you! I did spend an embarrassing amount of time in front of a mirror draping chevron fabric over my boobs to see what worked - glad to hear you think it paid off :-)

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  10. It really is SO comfy! I was cursing my print choice while cutting the fabric, but it was worth it in the end! The silhouette is so great isn't it - the pattern is really beautifully drawn.

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  11. That is such a lovely dress .... It looks so chic on you.

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  12. This is a great dress on you! The shape is super flattering and I really prefer it to a normal maxi. Keep up with the pompon styling - I reckon you'll get weeks, nah months more wear out of it. Love!

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  13. I actually think you could wear this with tights underneath and some great tan coloured boots to take it into some cooler weather. The fabric is fantastic!


    Tessuti also made this dress up in a winter weight fabric and drop the arm holes so I top could be worn underneath - it looks really good like that too.

    I really suck at dress for "transitional weather" - it's so hard to know if things are going to err on the side of hot or cold. We've had two VERY hot days this week and not it's back to cool - I got to wear a me-made summer dress to work on Monday but now it's back to pants.

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  14. It looks awesome and I wouldn't have noticed any off pattern matching! It's lovely fabric and great colours too!

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  15. You are an inspiration! Every time I see dresses like this I think: hm I can't wear that, sad. And you make them and I immediately want them too. This dress is awesome and so is that print. I might come and steal it.

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  16. Ah, this is nice (shape and fabric). I saw your comment on Kestral makes about coming from Reading the other week. If ever you're back in the UK and would like to meet up then let me know! Are your family based in the South East still? Marilla x

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  17. Hi Marilla! My family are in Essex & London now so South-East ish, more or less, and I'm actually in the UK fairly often but never manage to ditch the kids long enough for sewing-related shenanigans! One of these days I'll just book myself a Saturday 'off' and come and meet as many of you lovely sewing people as possible :-) I suppose London tends to be the obvious place (especially as I've never yet been to the mythical goldhawk road!) What's Reading like for fabric? I wish I was able to remember more about it, it's been a long time :-(

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  18. That's the most amazing thing to say, thank you! Especially as I look at all YOUR makes and wish I could carry if those shapes too :-) (circle skirts are so not my friends, and they suit you so well!)

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  19. Oh, I have the same kids thing, but can hand them over to the in laws sometimes. Reading only has fabricland and a fabric stall at the Central market, but the stall is great! Always changing and always cheap! Been to Goldhawk once earlier this year and it's definitely worth a visit, but I don't know what you get where you are. You always seem to have such nice fabrics anyway. Hopefully one day the stars will align and we can meet up with some other sewists! X

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  20. that fabric! I want that fabric! The dress looks great for summer and really bonus points for the pom pom accessories!

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