Month: April 2021

Dreamy Davenports and another fabulous Emma Project!

Published on by Emma_Ciarrocca4 Comments

When Friday Pattern Company contacted me, asking if I like to test there most recent pattern there was no hesitation in saying “yes”.

I’m sure you’ve seen the features of this dress but if you haven’t, here’s a illustration below.

The ruffles and the sleeves were the small details that sold it to me in the first instance. But as I made the tester up, the elasticated neckline and the cinched in waist literally blew my mind (in a good way) !

When the Davenport Dress was released, last Friday (16.4.21) – it was a double celebration as Scotland lifted the travel restriction which of course couldn’t pass by without a photo opportunity at a different location without a beige wall! Now don’t get me wrong, I love my beige walls as they allow the details on my garments to speak for themselves but sometimes you just need a different location!

I’ve had this Dashwood Rayon “the Secret Garden” in my stash for a good while and when Emma said she had bought some of the same fabric another wee collab was in motion. I think I bought it from Lamazi Fabrics way back in the day!

Emma @CoffeeAndGlassSlippers made the By Hand London Anna Dress – and boy, she’s knocking it out the park! Absolutely adore this and I think it’s one of my faves thats she’s made so far, Emma never fails to surprise me with her amazing style and sewing talent. I seemingly remember Emma telling me she got her piece of Rayon from John Lewis in Glasgow and it was half price, I think it was just after the 1st Lockdown and shops were just opened. Half price – Utter bargain!!!

Emma looks absolutely in her Anna Dress in the same fabric.
Swoon!
That jacket is such a great make that Emma made a while ago (another one of my favs!)

I found that the Rayon was a fray magnet. Way worse than the Ravishing Rayon that I used on my Kew Dress.

The Kew Dress by Nina Lee London in Ravishing Rayon by Dashwood Studio

For some unknown reason, I didn’t finish the edges with the overlocker after I cut which is what I usually do. I did, however finish most of the open edges once I put it together.

Ok the pattern is absolutely fabulous, I can’t fault it, so much so I had a second Davenport Dress ready as part of a collaboration with Felicity Fabrics, before the pattern was released, which you can read all about it here.

Davenport Dress in collaboration with Felicity Fabrics!

Both the Rayon and the viscose serve the pattern well with regards to the the ruffles and gathering. It drapes beautifully.

Location location location!

However, both times I had to slow down at the outer waist piece and how to attach that. Also adding the bodice yoke had me for a moment. I somewhat remember that the first time I did the pattern I had to walk away twice because my head wasn’t picking up the instructions right. You know, that cotton wool fuzzy head … uh huh?!

Found a Boulder to sit on!

Im looking to do a third Davenport Dress soon but it will be in a cotton. This pattern in the fabric will be quite different for me but it has such summer like pastel colours I couldn’t say no to it! I also see a hack coming very soon – keep your eyes peeled for that too.

It’s such a comfortable dress to wear.
Catching the rays down at the Cove!

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll probably talk about both Davenport Dresses on my YouTube channel very soon.

Happy Sewing!

My #FrugalFrocks2021 Dress

Published on by Emma_CiarroccaLeave a comment

Wow. I can’t believe I completed the dress 👗 as it it was touch and go, but I did.

For the challenge, which was created by the fabulous Ruan @TheYorkshireSewGirl and the lovely Sam @Frugalisama over on Instagram, I picked the Bardot Dress which was designed in collaboration with Lauren from @Elbe_Textiles and @PeppermintMagazine.

The Bardot Dress has a decent size range and a good amount of ease. The body measurements start from high bust 28, full bust 31, waist 24.4 and hips 34.6 inches to high bust 51, full bust 53, waist 46, hips 56.3 inches.

Because of the ease and the amount of fabric I had I choose size H for the bodice and I.

The fabric that I choose was “Bird Parade” viscose twill from @FabricGodmother … which I think suits this dress so well, especially for a spring summer print and dress!

I used 3 metres of this viscose twill and that’s all I had. I didn’t use the fabric layout … recently I’ve been playing pattern Tetris and loving the challenge!

Sewing this up I noticed the fabric was fraying ever so slightly but it was as bad as other viscoses but I did try out French seams and they are on the majority of seams including the pockets and the bodice! This was my first time trying out such skills and I’m gobsmacked that it worked out so well.

French Seams!

I made my own bias to add to the edges just by cutting out strips of 2cm wide on the bias on a s small piece of left over fabric. It wasn’t straight or neat but it does the job and you can’t see the wobbly edges as they are on the inside.

This dress took a lot of gathering and I mean a lot! Lots of patience, even more pins and delicate precision were required to get even gathers.

I’d definitely recommend this dress for summer holidays or lounging about at home on a hot day. The instructions are really good but I really didn’t use them that much. I kinda just went for it!

When I do this dress again and I will do it again, I’ll size down further on the bodice and shorten the shoulder straps and I’ll probably shorten the bodice. I’ll still swan about in this dress though as it’s got swoosh appeal!

I just want to thank both Ruan and Sam for this amazing challenge. It’s been so nice to see so many lovely makes from the community and find some more free patterns that are size inclusive. On that note, I think I’ll be trying the Peppermint Maxi Dress and the Lucia from Mood fabrics, very soon.

Happy Sewing!