My latest make is a Sew Over It Marguerite Dress, made using this gorgeous garden themed cotton canvas; the motifs on the print are so pretty – from keys and sundials to seed packets. This canvas print was originally intended to make a garden pinafore (I was actually planning to make the Fleur pinafore by Untitled Thoughts) but then I realised it wouldn’t get worn an awful lot because as long as I have my herb table I really have all I need in the garden. It’s not really one of those activities I get much pleasure out of. You’re more likely to find me wandering around stately gardens than weeding or planting at home so I decided to make a lovely dress intended for spring and summer instead. Saying that, being a heavy cotton, this fabric can easily be worn layered in the cooler months.
Admittedly, the Marguerite pattern is not intended for anything too heavy, but it seems to be my signature sewing move to neglect the recommendations of fabrics on patterns. It is intended to be a summer dress so suggested fabrics include cotton lawn, poplin, voile, chambray, seersucker, swiss dot, rayon, georgette and lightweight crepes. However, I love the shape of this dress so I was curious how it would turn out in a heavier fabric.
This was my first time sewing with canvas – in terms of going through the machine, it behaves like any cotton: just make sure you’re using the right needle (I’d recommend 100/16). I was worried that canvas would be messy – it’s known for creating a lot of lint in the machine – but I had no issues with it at all. Nor did I have any issues with tension or the bobbin which can often happen. This was, honestly, a really easy fabric to sew with. It also reacted well to the iron, even when ironing over several layers. The only difficulties I had was when it came to the gathering and the hand stitching of the cuffs. But this is to be expected when you don’t follow the recommendations. There’s very little movement in canvas – which is one of its most functional features – so gathering by way of stitches isn’t going to work (as the threads will just break). A gathering foot would be the best option, but I used my trusty dental floss with a zig zag stitch method. The caps sleeves were the hardest part to deal with because once you finish folding them in place you need to slip stitch them, by which time you’ve several layers (and seams) to sew through. My concern was that you’d feel the bulk when you wear it but, in fact, it isn’t necessary at all.
I have no doubt I’ll go on to make a floaty version of the dress, but I love this more structured version. There’s only a couple of bust darts; all the rest of the shaping is created by means of the gathers held by the waistband. I actually made no modifications to the pattern, either – I made a toile and discovered that because of the dolman sleeves I didn’t have to make my usual change when making Sew Over It Patterns (I always need to adjust the neckline and the armholes) – so this was made straight. There is a little excess room on the top, but I think it helps balance out the dress a little with the fitted waistband. I find Sew Over It patterns to be one of the best for my figure which is why I revisit their patterns over and over again.
I took most of the photos inside this morning as we were snowed in and couldn’t manage to get out of the driveway yesterday so I wasn’t sure how far we would get today; when we finally did make it out for a walk, I kept the dress on and layered it with a cardigan and boots for a more wintery look. This dress is going to get a lot of wear as there are so many colours in the print that it can be mixed and matched with a lot in my wardrobe. It would have made a lovely pinafore, but I don’t regret making it into a Marguerite.
P.S. The pattern requires 3.4m of fabric this width but I got this under 3m.
Thanks for reading,
Mary-Ellen x
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