I amped up some witchy-vibes for my sixth
#MinervaMake here! This *beautiful* Lady McElroy fabric was gifted to me from Minerva and I knew I wanted to make it into a fairly dramatic wrap dress with a full skirt; I had previously made a wrap dress out of ITY stretch fabric last summer, but I had not yet tried out one made specifically for wovens, so I pulled out Vogue 9313 and set to work.
Some of my favourite fabrics to work with are the Lady McElroy fabrics; the quality is fantastic and the designs are so interesting -- really unlike anything that you see in RTW clothing. This cotton lawn is called Henna Art and has a print of flowers, horseshoes, moths, hands, tarot cards... there are even a couple of stag beetles nestled into this design! I LOVE it; not only is the scale of the print is a good size, but it is just so quirky and a touch witchy. This fabric is available on a black background and I would class the print as a one-way design... but that may just be me being a little fussy! I only treated it as a one-way design due to the tarot card has text on it and I didn't want the text to be upside-down in any place. I was also pretty careful with pattern placement -- with a print like this with the hand design on it, I thought avoiding placing any of them on the front bodice would be a good idea! This cotton lawn feels soft, due to its high thread count and it holds the full shape of the wrap skirt beautifully. I also appreciate that Lady McElroy cotton lawns are sourced from the Better Cotton Initiative, which focuses on sustainability in the cotton sector.
I used Vogue 9313 for this wrap dress, but I think it may be out of print, which is a shame. It is a pretty handy little pattern, as there are multiple options for the wrap dress design. The bodice also comes in the different cup sizes, which I always like and I will certainly reuse the sash belt pattern piece for other garments. I went for View E, which has a full skirt that hits just below the knee and short sleeves. It is worth noting that this does use quite a lot of fabric -- I needed 3.7 metres (the Lady McElory cotton lawn is 140cm wide) -- but I love how full the skirt is, so it is well worth it 😊 All the pieces are cut on a single layer, so be prepared to be cutting out for quite a long time -- make sure you have plenty of tea and biscuits at hand!
I found the instructions fairly easy to follow and nothing was particularly tricky. Quite a few steps involved slipstitching, but I was lazy and just topstitched or stitched-in-the-ditch wherever applicable. I have yet to fall in love with handsewing...! The cotton lawn was a dream to sew with and pressed nicely, which is always welcome, and I really like the faced yoke and waistband, which I think elevates the garment. This isn't a true wrap dress with tie which can be fed through the waistband; this dress is instead secured with hooks and bars, which I may modify to rouleau loops and buttons if I make this again. I also had to make do with the interfacing I had at hand (grrr, lockdown) which was a little too heavyweight, so the neckband is quite stiff and stands away from my body. Hopefully this will soften out in the wash!
Overall, I am so happy with my finished dress and I can't praise the beautiful fabric enough. I do really love a big full skirt, however impractical they may be!
Thanks for reading and happy sewing until next time!
Rose
Gold & Silver Stitches
#MinervaBrandAmbassador #LadyMcElroy #LadyMcElroyFabrics #MinervaMakes #MinervaMakers #ISew #MeMade #MeMades #Sewing #Sewist #Sewists #SewingInspo #SewingInspiration #Sew #Sewcialist #SewingProject #SewingProjects #SewingIdeas #SewingProjectIdeas #SewingPatternInspo #LoveSewing #ILoveSewing #SewSewSew #SewersGonnaSew #MakersGonnaMake #ShareYourSewing #SewingLove #HandmadeWardrobe #HandmadeClothes #ISewMyClothes.DiyClothes
#Dressmaking #FabricInspo #Seamstress #MeMadeEveryday #IMakeMyClothes #IMakeMyOwnClothes #Fashion #FashionInspo #MeMadeWardrobe #MeMadeFashion #DIYFashion #DIYWardrobe #FashionSewing #VoguePatterns #Vogue9313 #V9313SewingDresses #SewingWrapDresses #SewingCottonLawn #SewingWithCottonLawn #CottonLawnSewingProjects