It all started when I saw By Hand London’s  sample of the Jessica Skirt in this Valentine Red and Pink viscose … it was love at first sight!

I thought the chances of sourcing it would be second to none but what’s the harm asking? The worst answer would be no or sorry we’ve ran out, so with that in mind I did some digging! You guess it, long story short I found some at The Rag Shop via pigeonwishes shop.

Yay! So I contacted Steph at The Rag Shop to let her know that I was doing a blog post on the viscose and she kindly gave one meter in return for the blog post (I already purchase two metres) so having that extra meter allowed me to play about with more options.

The Wildergown by Friday Pattern company has been on my sewing list for ages, I just love the fluidity of the dress. The Valentine Viscose and the wildergown dress would be a beautiful match!

I choose the xl according to the finished measurements but I could’ve gone up an extra size on the skirt but I might come back to that as I’ve still got some fabric left. Obviously, I was going to go on the full-on gown – I think it would have been be rude not too!

Ok, for adjustments I shortend the bodice because I’m only 5’3″ and my torso isn’t long at all. I went for even layers in the skirt but on hindsight, shouldve keep the top tier longer and the bottom tier shorter – but nevermind.

Sewing with the viscose was a dream.  I didn’t find it too slippery to work with either.  I did use a light weight needle just to be sure it didn’t punture the fabric whilst sewing it.  I’ve been reading that even using a microtex needle can sometimes still lead to tiny fractures in the fabric (in some makes more than others) which is quite nerving wracking after you’ve made that investment.

Before I started putting the pieces together I overlocked all the edges to stop them fraying.  Of course, I could always try french seams to finish the seams but let’s be frank here, 1. I’ve not got the patience to do that and 2. I’ve still not got the patience.

I really wanted to try and pattern match some of the lines of the grids and this worked out better than expected even with the gathering. For gathering I used lots of pins … LOTS of them and I tend to use the Prym glass headed pins now, just my preference.

I’m still sitting on the fence if I should add waist ties just to give a bit of shape and I may shorten the bottom tier to be just below the knee.  I think it’s all to do with my height but I may leave the length as it is if the waist ties help.  I’ve heard that Julie Uzor has a great tutorial on her Instagram for rouleau loops via theminisewist (but I’ve yet to find it).

However I’m slowly falling in love with the dress as when I first tried it on, I was like “what have I done?”.   For me it’s a bold change with the grid lines, because I’m short and rather curvy I think it accentuates certain features.  But everytime I’ve tried it on I’m feeling more confident.

To add to the love of this wildergown I am loving the drama of the neckline.  The pull tie that gathers the neck and gives the shape is such a simple yet clever design feature.

For the finishing touches I added one of Paige Joanna’s “Cute as a Daisy’ labels which I bought last week and thought it was quite a cute match!

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and Happy Sewing!

Emma x