Hi everybody!

I’m so excited to show you my this summer favourite dress – Palermo dress from Itch to Stitch book “Sew Beautiful: Make Stylish Handmade Clothing with Simple Stitch-and-Wear Patterns (link: https://itch-to-stitch.com/my-new-book-sew-beautiful-make-stylish-handmade-clothing-with-simple-stitch-and-wear-patterns/). This book contains 8 patterns with several variations and is well worth the money.

I chose the Palermo dress pattern after I saw The Great British Sewing Bee episode where the contestants had to sew a buffet dress in 5 hours. I wanted to take the challenge and as I had this beautiful viscose challis waiting to be sewn, I was hooked.

I think Palermo dress is a perfect buffet dress – it's loose, has two rows of gathered fabric in the skirt part and you can give some shape to it with a self-fabric belt. I really like the neckline with the elastic in it. I made no changes to the pattern except when cutting all the details out. Pattern instructions said you need 280 cm of fabric for my size, but I only had 240 cm. I cut out the bigger details at first, then cut the belt in four different pieces. I didn’t cut the neckline bias tape in bias – fortunately this fabric has some give and I was able to use it when cut on grain. I’m happy that the print of this fabric doesn’t show that the belt has been cut in four pieces.

I don’t have much experience when working with lighter weight and flowy fabrics and I was so happy that I chose viscose challis. It drapes beautifully and is still good to cut out and sew. I used pins to make sure I have the seams all lined up neatly and steam iron to press every seam to get the professional look. This fabric feels so good next to skin and I can wear my dress even on the hot days – it lets my skin breathe and the fabric doesn’t turn darker even when wet.

Do you want to know how long it took me to sew it? I know that in GBSB they have all the interruptions and they have to fit the dress to the model, so I’m not comparing myself to them. For me, fitting it to myself (and I’ve done it a lot), sewing the dress with minor distractions (kids, you know!) took 4 hours and 21 minutes. I was so happy when I finished it on time! I guess now it’s time to take another sewing challenge from GBSB.

I’ll see you soon as I have much to show!

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