Which to talk about first, I love the print, I love the fabric base it is printed on, I love the pattern I used and the changes I made to it.
Firstly, this fabric is a beautiful surprise to me, it is one of Minerva’s new plant-based fabrics, this one is an Aloe Vera Plant Dobby which contains 60% Aloe Vera plant and 40% cotton. The Aloe Vera plant microcapsules are incorporated into the fabric during the finishing process and binds to the fabric, I find this so intriguing. The cotton content gives it structure, the dobby weave has a lovely tactile, geometric weave, almost waffle like but feeling like silk, and the aloe Vera gives it a softness that is pure, cool and feels like it is giving me a gentle caress, it also feels as light as a feather due to it being 0nly 90 GSM in weight.
It is difficult to describe it, I find it beautifully soft and kind of floppy, in a good way, I would say it is a loose weave with a soft, fine texture from the dobby element which feel silky against my skin. When I first felt it, I thought gee’s I need to treat this with kid gloves, however once I started working with it, I found it to be no more difficult than other fine drapey fabrics, indeed easier due to the cotton and dobby weave.
My tips on using this base cloth is to overlock the raw edges before washing, get all your markings on before moving the pattern, mark rather than snip if working with a 1cm seam allowance, marks are your best friend, this fabric can be easily misaligned, I would add more marks on a long seam or one that tends to stretch out easily, use a new sharp fine needle, I used a Schmetz universal 70, finish your edges in your preferred way, I found overlocking to be the best, don’t ignore any steps that instruct you to stay stitch, I also added some seam tape to the pocket edge for stability. Use fine pins and be mindful of them as it would easily snag, which I did with a rogue, naughty pin and it gave me a nasty run right on the front…ahh!! It happened towards the end of sewing this, to rub salt into my wounded heart.
It washes and presses well using a low heat, cutting out was easy as it isn’t a slippery fabric and I found it quite stable going through my sewing machine. A rather a nice fabric to work with if you are mindful of its unique personality and treat it with a delicate hand.
The print is one of Minerva’s new Melissa Lowry designs, my goodness they are all so beautiful it was difficult to choose. I fell in love with the vibrant blue background and how the white print looks against it. This one is called Festival De Flores in the colour Azul, the other colourway is the same but reversed – white background, blue flowers. I loved the striking effect of the white on blue so decided to highlight this more by adding a white placket, collar, cuffs and hem band. I got this idea from a dress I saw on Pinterest. My pattern is by Pattern Emporium and called the About Town Popover, mine looks different now that I have hacked it with the white additions and also because I flared it out to make it more swing style, I also did this on the sleeves, which I think I did wrongly as I had a nightmare trying to get them to hang correctly, in the end I cut out two more as the pattern intended and redid them, luckily I had a piece large enough left, they still seem to hang differently to my toile but better than my flared out ones. The hem on this, compared to my wearable toile doesn’t hang the same either, it seems to dip down and fall inwards at the sides, I don’t mind though as it gives it a cocoon shape and looks intentional, I can only think it is because the fabric is softer with drape and the band is doubled over and interfaced making it slightly heavier.
The upper front lining I did in white has worked out well (see previous post), it looks better when the collar folds down and it hasn’t affected the way the dress hangs. I could have fully lined it, but it seemed a shame to add a layer between myself and this gorgeous cooling fabric, and I find it to be opaque enough to wear without any extra layer.
As mentioned in my last post I used a stripe cotton seersucker leftover from my Poppy dress for the plain white. I did purchase some white viscose dobby and white cotton lawn from Minerva for this, but when they arrived the dobby was too much of a creamy white and the Lawn too much of a clean, smooth white. The seersucker is a little whiter than the white of the flower print, but I like how the stripes give it a texture, like the dobby does in the main fabric, and adds a new dimension to my dress. I loved the self-covered buttons so much and think they go perfectly, I interfaced the fabric to make these, beings as the fabric is delicate and light weight.
I am so happy with this dress, not letting the pull thread mishap dampen my enthusiasm for it, just taking in the wonderful print and feel of this fabric as it is barely noticeable when wearing my dress.
Happy Sewing All
Sheila C xx
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