Tropical A-Line Dress – McCall’s M5583

Hi everyone! I have been silent on the blog front, but behind the scenes, I have been very busy working long hours and also working on some garments that I wanted to take on holiday with me to Europe on our winter get away this year. Thus the long pause from blogging. But the long anticipated holiday is now happening and I am writing to you from a very tiny but special place on our planet – Capri. It has been on my bucket list for a while now and even though we are still here and have a few things left to see and do during our one week stay, it is safe to say I would love to come back one day and spend some more time on this little treasure of an island with it’s breathtaking views.

I could write pages about Capri, but this is a sewing blog…

I made this dress a few years ago, but somehow it always lands in my luggage because it’s loose, colourful and doesn’t need any ironing. So all in all, a very travel friendly piece. The fabric is a soft polyester that I bought at Spotlight in two different patterns. I used the leafy one (sort of looks like leaves) for the dress and the stripy one for the edging.

I don’t find it easy sewing with very stretchy fabrics like these two because my sewing machine tends to jump a stitch or two here and there, but I loved the colour in teal and turquoise and the print on these two fabrics and bought a few metres of each. Years later I am glad that I did, because I still love the colour and print of both fabrics and plan on making a maxi dress out of the rather large remnants I have in my stash in the Australian summer.

I used the same pattern for this dress as I have used for heaps of other dresses I have made in the past by just altering the width of the lower edge to make it a little narrower in version C. The sleeves are a slight bell shape and 7/8 length.

 

The back of the dress has a middle seam going through it on the pattern, but I eliminated the seam and cut the back as one piece. There is also no zip or buttons and the dress slips on easily over the head because of the stretchy fabric.

I lined this dress in an off white soft polyester just to give it a bit more weight. The edging of the sleeves and the lower edge aren’t perfect, because the stripes don’t match up exactly and there is a bit of a wave in the fabric at the seam. However, despite the imperfections, I have worn it so many times and one day while shopping three ladies asked me where I got my dress from, so I guess it turned out OK. Nice to get compliments for one of your own creations!

These days I am more into natural fabrics and don’t make much out of synthetics, but if I find an irresistible print or colour, I do find myself giving in!

 

Do you have a favourite piece of clothing that you always take on your travels?

STYLING: shoes: Midas, sunglasses: Margot by Tom Ford, silver ring: Apart Fashion

LOCATION: Anacapri, Capri, Italy