Last year the wonderful team at My Fabric Place approached me about using some of their fabric. I took a look at their selection and fell in love with this stretch cotton sateen, they had so many lovely fabrics it was a bit hard to choose from!
They packed it up and sent it across and while I have taken it out and patted it quite a lot I just never got around to using it. mostly
Last week I cut into it, made it up, wore it on the weekend to a lovely ladies lunch with friends, got blog photos and kicked myself for leaving such lovely fabric languishing for a whole year.
It is a delight to wear with a nice solid heaviness to the fabric but not being hot. these photos were taken on a warm day after I’d walked, caught a train, ate lunch and been in a car and it still looks pretty fresh!
Make wise it is my own bodice block which I have altered slightly when I recreated it last year. I’ve added a bit more room to the sides. it helps my dresses hang straighter and doesn’t pull so much over the lopsided section of my torso. Seeing it in photos means I’ve spotted a few other things I can fix so I’ll keep those in mind for next time I use it.
The skirt is the full width of the fabric pleated to make the front and the same for the back. I didn’t measure the pleats just eyeballed it in.
I also added side pockets, the neck and armholes are finished with satin bias binding.
The back has an invisible zip which I inserted using my regular zip foot as I always do. I find the regular foot so much better than the
Pattern: my own bodice block and pleated skirt
Fabric: Stretch cotton sateen from My Fabric Place
Alterations: next time don’t wait so long to make up beautiful fabric!
With thanks to My Fabric Place for supplying the fabric for this project.