Summer is for Maxi Dresses

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a maxi dress ... so when Named Clothing released their latest collection 'Ritual' the Ama Cowl Neck Frock was immediately on my MUST HAVE list.

I'm not a fan of an elastic waist band but the back of the dress bodice is 'killer'!  I've not seen this before in any other pattern, so the uniqueness of the design was also a big attraction for me.

Ignore the bra straps that poke out from the top - they are not part of the frock!

What I didn't realise, well actually I didn't read the outline of the pattern correctly and missed that it said "Wear with the Shadi Knit Skirt", which was the indication that the skirt wasn't lined.  That would be why I couldn't find the skirt lining pieces in the box! I just assumed that it was because you just use the skirt pattern pieces for the lining as well - normal right :-)

I traced off the two skirt pieces and shortened so the lining would come just above my knee.

But when I got to the instructions on attaching the bodice to the skirt I was really confused on how the casing for the elastic was created and that is because I had an extra piece of skirt lining fabric that the instructions didn't. Now the penny drops!

Anyway, fudging it included attaching the skirts to the outside layer of the bodice leaving the bottom of the bodice lining unattached.  I then folded the bodice lining seam allowance under and attached that by sewing in the ditch on the seam I just created sewing the bodice to the skirt.  I then sewed another row of stitching above that, into both layers of the bodice for the elastic casing. Gee I hope that makes sense!  All fudging is covered by a belt anyway :-)

I didn't do a muslin for this dress.  I figured that it wasn't too fitted and I could get away with fitting as I went.  Named Clothing design for a tall woman, so knowing this I didn't have to make any alterations to the length of the bodice or the skirt.  It is the perfect length when I wear with flats - I would probably only wear it with flats.

I did alter the width of the hem of the skirt, reducing both the front and back by 7", making a total of 14" from the circumference of the hem.  The pattern suggests leaving the side seams open all the way to the waist if wearing a skirt underneath, but I thought that would be really weird if caught in a gust of wind (not unusual for Wellington), so I sewed the side seams closed 18" down from the waist - about in line with the lining.

The shell of the dress is a poly/tencil/viscoe that I picked up from the Fabric Warehouse pop-up sale in September 2013 for just $3 per meter.  It was a breeze to sew and it's lovely to wear. The drape of the fabric is perfect for the soft cowl of the Ama.

This is a really lovely dress that is super easy to wear.  I would consider making another one, shorter (to the knee), to wear to the beach.  It would be so easy to throw over the swimwear.

More photos on my Flickr -->

Silk Kielo Wrap

Named is a Finnish indie pattern company that is all about clean lined simplicity with some interesting design detail. The Kielo wrap dress caught might attention with it's interesting take on a wrap but without adding any bulk and remaining very feminine.

Back in April when I made this we were heading into winter down-under but I was still keen to get a Kielo into my wardrobe that I could wear at least during autumn and spring.  So rather than a maxi dress of the original pattern design, I decided on a long top that I could wear with a pair of leggings and a jacket/cardigan would be more season appropriate.

I downloaded the PDF pattern from the Named website and assembled.  I made a couple of adjustments to the pattern:  the first was the obvious reduction in the length and the other was the dropping of the bust dart by 1/2", which is normal for me with most patterns.  I didn't do a muslin for this, but rather did a very basic tissue fit.

Based on the Named size chart I cut a size US8, purely based on the bust measurement.  This was spot on!  The top is quite fitted and is very well designed with the bust dart providing great shape to the upper body.

I picked up this cotton silk from The Fabric Warehouse, not particularly for this pattern but because it caught my eye while I was in store.  It was the perfect weight for this pattern, which suggests light woven or knit fabrics.  The instructions recommend finishing all the edges first, but I found that my overlocker doesn't deal with light weight fabrics very well so that wasn't a great option, especially because it slightly stretched all the edges because most are on the bias.

With such a lightweight fabric I didn't want to add machine stitching around the neckline or the armholes so I ended up turning them over twice and and stitching them in place with a simple slip stitch.

I love this top and have had it on a weekly rotation in my wardrobe ever since I finished it ... back in April.  It is a very simple pattern to make up and would recommend it to beginners.  I love the clean simple lines with the fitted bodice - it just feels rights.  I am definitely thinking about making a long version of the dress for summer.

More photos on my Flickr -->