Hello! It’s been awhile and let’s just say that a lot has been happening! I’ll share my life news at a later date when everything is sorted out and I have time to breathe. For now I’m going to quickly share a dress that I made for a local shop I have been working at this summer. .. The Colette Myrtle!
Apologies for the headless photos… was trying something new (*ahem* hiding a terrible hair day!)
As many of your already know, I have been working as a postdoc in an Immunology lab in Toronto for the last five a half years. An amazing time was had, lots was learned and all that jazz! I officially finished in June (yay! I am now “fully” trained!) but have more or less been working from home since March. Applying for jobs, doing contract work for local biotech start-ups, etc. Basically, I have been sitting on my ass, all alone in my apartment. I was starting to talk to my cats waaaaay too often! So I approached my friend Claudia (well, with a lot of help from Angela!) and asked if she needed help over the summer in her seriously amazing store Eweknit. It was a great way to take a day away from my home and start to interact with people again!
Eweknit has been my go-to yarn store since it opened two years ago. Seriously, for those of you that knit, check out their wares as this is one well curated and well stocked shop! Last fall, the shop started catering to the sewing addicted amongst us and now boasts one of the most impressive Liberty of London Tana Lawn collections I’ve seen! And recently, a few bolts of Liberty rayon jersey were brought in (details on these fabric lovelies can be found here). New pattern I was itching to try, new fabric that I could not wait to get my hands on… it was a go!
Patience might have been a good thing here as I am not sure that one should ever muslin a pattern using Liberty! Nonetheless, despite some fitting flaws that could easily have been avoided with a little forethought and prep work, I am in love with this dress! I made the size medium based on my bust measurements (I would normally grade to a large at the hips but didn’t think it would be a problem here with the full, gathered skirt). Really, I should have automatically sized down to account for the drape of this fabric but I’m still happy with the result. Some would say droopy but I say bugger off to that!
I would even go so far as to say that I could have gone down to an x-small in the bodice. The shoulders on this are a little wide, but this is not an unusual problem for me. My sister Kelley got all the shoulders in this family. But I like to remind myself that she’s old and then I feel better! Kel, I do hope you are reading this!
Bad hair? Check! Awkward pose? Sigh, check…
Words can hardly describe how amazing this fabric is. It felt more like cotton interlock than rayon jersey on the bolt but after being washed..? Silky, dreamy goodness! I have been living in this dress as though it were a nightgown! Who say your shouldn’t be fancy for your cats?!
I was sewing this for the shop so I didn’t make any modifications and while I find some of the steps in the Colette’s knit patterns unnecessarily complicated (the elastic gathering on the Moneta, anyone?!?), it went together with no problems. Some steps that I found a little fiddly with the slinky fabric were the hemming on the back bodice piece (the neck and the sleeves) and this could easily be overcome by doing a full bodice lining. The insertion of the elastic at the waist was also needlessly long and can be adapted in whatever way you prefer. Gillian skipped the gathered skirt on her version and instead just stabilized the waist in the usual way and it works beautifully! Overall though, I find this a clever little dress that appears to flatter most people. Case in point, see it on Angela!
Let’s just say that our measurements are not the same and leave it at that! But it looks fantastic on her!
So who else is making this dress and what are you thoughts on the new knit-inspired patterns by Colette? Anyone going to give a woven Myrtle a try?
You can see and read more about this dress, the fabric and the pattern (shortly!) here!
Sara
That Liberty really makes the dress! It’s draping so nicely on you – I can just imagine how shapeless that size dress would look in a stiffer fabric! The colour is nice on you, too! (On person and on camera!) Seeing your dress first really helped me figure out how to make mine work, so thank you!
Yes, I think this dress would be a massive disaster (literal one) had it not been for the drapey fabric! Love your version even more though!
I’m giving it a go – first in a practice fabric – this weekend. I know it’s not in the sewing plan and I said I’m not going to sew, but I really want to give it a go and see how it turns out. Plus, I want a new summer dress that can go from day to night.
Sucks that your version didn’t work for you but loved the Lady Skater in the Liberty jersey!
Wow! Lovely! I can’t wait to finish all my family duties and get back to sewing in September. I bought this pattern pre-order, and once I do a muslin I might have to spring for some Liberty jersey too . . .
Thanks, Gail! I think you’ve got a gaggle of gorgeous Emery’s to keep you happy until that time!
Ooh just lovely! 🙂 Gorgeous fabric. I just finished up a woven Myrtle and I adore the pattern!
Your woven version is lovely! And another Toronto Sewcialist! You’ll have to come to the next meet-up! Sadly, I’ll have moved by then but there are a lot of really great women in the group should you be interested in meeting some like-minded individuals!
Yummy Liberty. Thanks for the links! The fabric looks gorgeous for this pattern.
Yummy, indeed! And it really is great fabric for this dress!
Love the drape, you look like a Grecian goddess! I want to make a tunic like that but I’m still figuring out how much extra fabric to add at the neckline. I like to make my own patterns.
You could definitely do with less fabric than I have here! It’s borderline indecent if I’m not careful! I do wish I had the patience to draft my own patterns but I’ll be keeping an eye out for your Grecian inspired shirt/dress!
No, I like all the swish. I started making my own stuff precisely because I loathe fitted clothes. I adore wide leg pants and kimono robes and cowl neck tunics.
When I move in that stuff, it feels like I’m swimming through soft fabric, floating in it. The only downside is how many yards of the crap you have to buy–Ha, ha!
Sara, this is so, so, so, flattering on you! Make it in every colour and wear all your cardigans with it into winter. Seriously, what a fantastic dress.
I have to say that I think it looks a wee better in the photos than in real life! The gathered skirt with the pockets can make for some unwelcome volume! But I do love it anyways! You gonna make?
It is delicious! And I agree with Andrea, I think you should give this pattern another go – you can always abandon the pockets! I’m probably not going to be making the Myrtle, though it is the most tempting Colette pattern I’ve seen in a while, so you never know… it could sneak up on me :).