My idea to take pictures of this dress as soon as the sun came out was definitely a good one! It was two weeks ago and since then, I haven’t been able to wear any of my newly-sewn summer dresses at all because it was far too cold, so frustrating!!!

So this one is M7081 – a dress with a mock-wrap bodice and a full circle skirt, joined by quite a large belt.

I love everything about this style: the pleats of the front bodice, which replace the bust darts and make the wrap fall perfectly into place; the belt, which creates a very neat joint between bodice and skirt; and the circle skirt, my favourite of all skirt shapes! (in case you hadn’t noticed…)

For once, this is not a Vogue Custom Fit pattern but pretty close, as Vogue and McCall are the same company. There is no bust cup options but I thought I could get away without any FBA thanks to the folds in the bodice  – under close inspection I really should have bothered, because the front belt is slightly pulled upward. But nothing to make me lose sleep! This is such a straightforward make that I actually did not use the instructions, which I would usually do when I sew a new style.

I made a few minor changes to the pattern:

–  I added piping all around the belt and the neckline. For the belt it was very easy, as it is lined inside, so I just had to add my piping between the two pieces of fabric. For the neckline, I saw the piping in place then finished with bias tape.

– I did not add a shirt collar, I found it unnecessary on a summer dress.

– I lined the skirt, as my fabric was slightly see-through.

The hardest thing with Vogue and McCall patterns, in my opinion, is to get the sizing right – the envelope indications are way too large, always! But once you’ve worked out how many sizes you need to go down, I find their sizing very consistent. So for me, the envelope tells me I’m a 12, but I always cut an 8 at the shoulders, going to 10 at the waist – this gives me a perfect fit without any adjustment (except of the bust when I bother).

The fabric is a lightweight cotton from my favourite fabric shop in London: Fabrics Galore, so well worth the trip North to South London! My last trip of a month ago was a huge success, with 5 garments sewn from the fabrics I purchased then! My philosophy towards fabric buying has changed a lot recently: instead of buying in bulk, putting in a cupboard and forgetting about it, I try to use the fabric I buy quickly after purchase. I’ve noticed my tastes change quite a lot with fabric, as they do with clothes, so I will most often not feel like sewing a fabric I adored the year before.

Philosophical considerations appart, I am thrilled with this dress. It is light and fresh for summer days but still with a structured shapes. A second one is already sewn… Naughty me!

This is the last of my lemon dresses, I promise!!! The lemon collection has been going strong this Spring, but it is fully complete now, as I have no more lemon fabric left in my stash…

So the latest lemon addition to my wardrobe is with a duck egg background (I have reviewed its white and navy background sisters here and here respectively). I bought the fabric from fabric.com (still available here) early Spring and it is exactly the same as the navy background one – a lovely stretchy cotton sateen, with good texture and a very soft feel.

I wasn’t so keen on the duck-egg colour and I just bought it along with the navy one as I was importing the all lot from the US – so why not optimise the shipping and custom charges!! I really should have waited because these two fabrics are available all over the UK now (go here or here for no US-importing hassle!). Anyway…Despite my colour reservations, I am thrilled by how this dress turned out!

The pattern inspiration came directly from Dolly Clackett alias Roisin Muldoon, who posted a dress in this exact same fabric on her Instagram, in the sleeveless variation of this pattern. When I saw it I knew I wanted the same! – with sleeves though…

So this pattern is M6696, which has two big advantages: first it is a McCall pattern, the same company that does all my beloved Vogue dress patterns that fit me so well (so there is some hope the sizing is somewhat similar!); and second this pattern has several cup options for the bodice – no FBA needed, hurrah! Since discovering the Vogue Custom Fit collection, I have become VERY reluctant to try any pattern that actually requires a FBA…

I have been staying away from shirtdresses, not because I don’t like them but because my sewing machine what never good at making buttonholes– the highly sophisticated buttonhole attachment never worked. The only other shirt dress I ever saw was this Cami dress from Pauline Alice, which I absolutely adore!

But I eventually got my machine repaired and now these buttonholes are nothing to fear (well, nearly nothing to be perfectly honest)! I really enjoyed sewing the M6696 pattern for several reasons:

• It does not have an excessive number of pieces.
• The explanations are extremely clear to follow – and I do recommend you follow them, as the pieces are made to be assembled in a set order.
• Everything falls perfectly into place: the collar, the button placket, the pleats of the skirt. So if you want to make an adjustment, such as lengthening the skirt or widening the collar, do make sure you adjust all the pattern pieces around it.
• It nevertheless has a number of lovely details: shirt collar, separate button placket, pleated skirt, waist belt. I particularly like the pleats of the skirt and the neat waist belt.

I made minor changes to the pattern:

• I made the back skirt into one piece rather than two.
• The back bodice is supposed to have gathers at the top and at the bottom, I removed the ones at the top and just made two pleats at the bottom, as I really did not like the puffy look these gathers created on my muslin.

Size-wise, I cut a size 8 / C cup despite the size 12 I should follow according to the enveloppe (utter nonsense! – I have the same issue with the Vogue patterns) and I just had to slightly increase the waistline. The bust was absolutely perfect and needed no adjustment whatsoever. The dress is a touch large for my liking, but I think this is related to the stretch in the fabric rather than anything else.

I really like this dress and have been wearing it much more than I expected. I’ve already finished a second version, in a completely different style, which is in the wash currently but I promise I’ll post pictures soon!

This article will be mainly pictures, as I’ve told you everything sewing-wise about Sirocco in this article. After sewing it in black, I made a pink Sirocco – and the colours make them so different that I thought it was really worth an article. So here are a few compare and contrast pictures – enjoy!

Which one do you prefer? I’ve seen many versions on Instagram and it amazes me how flattering this jumpsuit is to all body shapes, in any colour! I must admit I feel much more self-conscious when I were the pink than the black though, I feel a bit like a gigantic candy-floss…

With the weather still quite cold for the season, I have (God knows how!) managed to hold off sewing summer dresses. But as soon as the temperature started rising, I just couldn’t wait any longer. I had the pattern, I had the fabric, their destiny was sealed over a day: another little lemon number in my wardrobe!

This fabric is part of my fruit-obsessed stash. It is actually the first lemon fabric I bought, from a random China seller on Etsy, after months of looking for something similar to this.

Obviously the Dolce&Gabbana fabric is silk and mine is cotton; but appart from that I actually prefer my fabric, I was keener on the lemons than on the flowers. Of my three lemon fabrics, it is by far my favourite, as the lemons are bigger and enhanced by the white background.

As for the pattern, it is V9100, yet again for the Vogue Custom Fit collection, which offers bust cup options. It is a sleeveless dress, with a fitted bodice with princess seams; and a gathered skirt. I was hugely inspired by Leisl’s beautiful red take on pattern (here).

Over the past few months, I have sewn a number of dresses (10?) from this collection (see here, here, here and here) and the overall fit is always perfect, without any FBA adjustment.

This pattern did not disappoint. I chose a size 10 and a D cup and the bust was a bit too large, but nothing I couldn’t easily trim off directly from the dress; the rest of the fit was perfect.

I made a few other changes: I swapped the gathered skirt for a semi-circle (which, beware, does consume more fabric); I fully lined the dress as my fabric was slightly see-through (instead of only lining the bodice as per the instruction); and I hand-sewn bias binding at the hem for a nicer finish and a bit more skirt volume. But nothing else.

What I loved about this pattern:

• It’s a very easy make, really in line with the enveloppe rating. It only took me a few hours to put together – then a few more to hand-sew the hem but that was my own choice, there is no need to do that!! The only technical difficulty is the concealed zip at the back.
• The style is spot-on, so 50’s, just what I love
• With a low neckline at the front and at the back, it is perfect for hot days and very flattering without being indecent.

The only thing I did not like is that the pattern advises to overstitch all along the neckline, so that the lining does not slips out – I hate visible stitches in such an obvious place! So I stabilised my lining from the inside.

So overall another very pleasing make! I have already sewn another V9100 in a completely different fabric, but weirdly enough I’m having more fitting issues… so you’ll see it when this is sorted!