Greetings from Canada! 🍁 The borders recently reopened for international travel, so I jumped a the chance to visit and meet my best friend Simon in Canada for a mini road trip. Obviously I needed to make a new dress for the trip, so when Minerva gifted me 3.5m of this floaty, heart-print rayon challis for my #MinervaMake this month, I set to work!

This gorgeous rayon challis had been sitting in my Minerva saved items for quite a while, so I jumped at the chance to make a garment with it. The background is a light and creamy shade of white, with these scattered scarlet hearts printed on — it’s very pretty and delicate. The structure of this rayon is light and floaty, with a smooth hand. The fabric isn’t totally opaque, so I would recommend lining it too. Make sure you take your time when cutting and pinning this fabric — I used my extra-sharp silk pins to avoid any snags — and I used a microtex needle and my walking foot when sewing.

I initially cut out the By Hand London Tamzin dress to make this pattern, but changed my mind halfway through sewing up the bodice (whoops). I umm-ed and ahh-ed a little bit, before landing on New Look 6262. This dress has a darted bodice with either a v-neck or boat neckline, with a full gathered skirt and sleeve options. I went for View B, as the elegant boat neckline was calling to me, but decided to change up the sleeves a little; I used the Tilly and the Buttons Indigo flounce sleeves to make this classic style a little more exciting.

I had already cut out the waist ties of the Tamzin dress and I thought it would be a shame to waste them, so I added them into this dress at the side seams. I also added pockets to the side seams of the skirt, mainly because I love adding pockets to dresses and it also feels odd that they aren’t included in this pattern? In terms of fit, I made a FBA to the bodice and cut out a size 12; there is plenty of ease factored into this pattern, so maybe next time I could size down.

I breezed through the construction of this dress without any hiccups. The rayon holds the gathers so beautifully, but it was a bit of a nightmare inserting the invisible zip. I honestly have never met an invisible zip that liked me back… For the flounce sleeves, I opted for a rolled hem using my overlocker, which is the first time I have tried this technique!

I am so happy with my finished dress, it feels very ‘me’. I can see me picking this dress out for work or for meeting my friends for brunch. I am planning to make another version of this dress in a French Navy cotton lawn.
Now I must dash, it’s breakfast time here in Montréal and maple-syrup pancakes are calling to me!

Thanks for reading and happy sewing until next time!
Rose
Gold & Silver Stitches

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