I've now finished my Rooibos dress!
Here are the pictures.
I used the Rooibos pattern from Colette patterns. If you read my last post about the muslin you would have been expecting a white dress. I
decided to go with a darker fabric for a couple of reasons. Firstly
it may be spring but it's freezing around here. Spring wardrobe
planning is lost on me as I'm usually wrapped up in a winter coat and
tights well into June! Secondly I wanted to line the dress and was
concerned the dark trim I wanted for the collar would show through
the white fabric. I still want to make the white dress as I love the
muslin. In fact I think the muslin looks better than my final dress
which isn't supposed to happen!
Anyway the navy fabric is part of the
lot I bought from retired seamstress.
I liked the colour and I love the navy Rooiboses (is that the plural?) I've seen including
the one on the Colette site. Unfortunately the fabric does not have
the body that's needed for this pattern. I don't know what the
fabric is – a cotton blend? It's a bit like a bed sheet! I thought
the lining may compensate for lack of body. It has to some extent –
it's a million times better with the lining.
I've used a rather luxurious fabric for
the lining. I bought it I think in December 2010, early on in my
sewing career. I can't remember what I had planned for it. When I
made up the lining I was able to try it on to see what it might have
looked like as a dress. I really liked it and it would have made a
nice casual Darling Ranges dress (although I don't like the low
neckline on that pattern). Too late now though but I may have
enough left to make a top.
For the lining I followed my own
instructions (based on Angela Kane's tutorial) which I posted about
here. It worked out really well. I love the result on the
shoulders and armholes with this method. To try and reduce bulk I thought it might be a
good idea to draft lining pieces, merging my shift dress pattern
pieces into the Colette facing pieces. I spent a bit of time doing
this and tested it out but it didn't come out too well. I decided
to just duplicate the dress for the lining. It has come out fine.
For the side zipper I did it so that it
opens all the way up rather than having a sewn seam above the top of
the zipper. This makes it much easier to put on. It's the same as
sewing a zipper in the centre back of a dress. It was slightly
trickier sewing the top part of the zip because of the curve of the
armhole but it was OK.
I interfaced the zipper area on both
the lining and the top fabric which made the zip extra easy to sew. I
love the little collar thing at the top. It came out really well with
the contrasting lining. Getting the collar to stay down was a
challenge! Firstly I was going to tack the corners of the collar to
the dress. I tried this but when I looked in the mirror I couldn't
see that much of the contrast fabric. I had just used an extravagant
fabric for the lining so I wanted it to show! I then tried to pick
stitch it in place but in the end I decided not to mess about. That
collar is never going to stay down unless it's stitched! I
topstitched the collar in place at the neckline and down the two
sides of the collar.
I made piping for the top of the
pockets. I used some really thick shoelaces that I found around the
house for the cording. (I don't know where they came from and I'm
hoping my chap doesn't ask me if I've seen his shoelaces now!)
The dress is pretty short – I added
3.5 cm onto the hem and it's still quite short. I interfaced
the hem, extending the interfacing 1 cm beyond the hem fold. I blind
stitched it in place using the machine. It's so nice to have a
fabric that can be blind stitched on the machine!
I'm really pleased with the dress. It
looks great with my cardigans and I think I'll get a lot of wear from
it this year.
Next up may be my Sewaholic Lonsdale
dress (mainly because I love Dolly Clackett's gingham version) or another Rooibos.
Happy sewing!
Looks great! I love the lining
ReplyDeleteThanks Mollie!
DeleteYes, the lining looks like such a nice fabric, lovely print! I think the Rooibos is a unique, cute design. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Johanna! I love the lining fabric as well - such a fun print. The Rooibos is a great pattern. I was eventually won over with all the great versions everywhere!
DeleteI love this. It's simply perfect. Love the colour. Love the lining. Love the trimmed accents. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks Evie! I'm glad you like it. The nice thing about the pattern is the scope to do the accents and trims on the dress. I love little details like this!
DeleteThis is gorgeous! I love the Rooibos, it's definitely one of my favourite patterns. Can't wait to see what you do with the Lonsdale! x
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Roisin! I love your blue Rooibos as well and countless other of your outfits! Lonsdale - don't be surprised if I blatantly copy your gingham version!
DeleteThis is so pretty! I love it! You'll really enjoy the Lonsdale dress-- it's really fun to put together!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Oh I'm excited now. I've got the pattern out all ready so I might start it tonight!
Delete