Hi everyone,

I am here today to share with you one of my recent makes for Minerva with this lovely embroidered denim!

I used:
Fabric: NT-15022-008
Pattern: self-drafted

I must admit I love embroidered fabrics and trims and everything embroidery related in general. I see denim dresses with embroidery made by hand and I think they look just fantastic and unique and I always wanted to make one. When I saw this fabric with a ready embroidered border I jumped for joy and I knew what pattern I would use to make my dream dress without embroidering anything by hand! I would have embroidered butterflies and flowers if I chose to make embroidery by hand so the pattern is just perfect for me!
This fabric is a light to medium weight cotton denim with embroidery on one border, soft to the touch and so easy to sew! I pre-washed it before cutting as it is a must when working with cotton. It doesn’t need lining if you make a dress or trousers so nothing to worry about. It is a dream to work with and I would recommend it for any summer garment you could imagine. The embroidery I think is machine made and is not scratchy from inside so you can wear it as is.

I chose a basic kimono/dropped sleeves pattern I made some time ago as a relaxing sewing therapy after my recent more time consuming projects. it literally has few seams and shows off the fabric pattern perfectly. I made the pattern A-line and wide enough to avoid slits in side seams. So it is comfortable to walk and move in general because I wanted an everyday dress. You will probably not believe it but I didn’t make pockets in side seams, I cannot push myself to use them in dresses! This way side seams of my dress were overlocked, sleeves closed with a narrow hem, and the neckline is finished with a bias tape made from the same fabric.

Both front and back pattern pieces of the dress are cut on fold so I made a double fold and the paper pattern pieces were positioned the way that the bottom of the dress lays on the embroidered border. To know how much fabric you need for this type of construction you need to measure the widest part of the pattern, in my case it was bodice centre to sleeve ends multiplied by 4. I made the neckline round and wide enough to put on the dress easily, with no buttons, no closings, just a very basic and simple design.
As I made a dress with two pattern pieces only, there were some square fabric pieces left after I made the dress so I decided to make a matching summer hat. I made a pattern recently but haven’t test it yet so this was a chance to complete it. I had enough fabric for the outside pieces and I used linen fabric leftovers inside. When I was working on the hat, as it needs a lot of topstitching, I noticed that it turned my fingers blue. I didn’t notice that when I worked on the dress though or when I wore it all day but to be safe I’ll add some white vinegar to my cold water rinse next time I wash the dress, to keep the colour.

I am absolutely in love with my make. It is a second comfy dress I make this year and I know I’m going to live all the summer in this cotton happiness.

I’m going to tag an easy Burda paper pattern that looks pretty much the same if you want to make a similar dress!

Hope you like my dress as much as I do! Thank you Minerva for this gorgeous fabric!

Thanks for reading!
Olga
@olgatailor
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