A Yuki Dress in Rayon Crepe

Sometimes I want to wear an easy dress in Winter. I have a bunch of fitted dresses that I can layer for cool weather. And I do. I wear turtlenecks and tights under many of my classic, fit and flare dresses. However, I love loose, floaty dresses too. I have several simple, shift-style dresses that I love to wear in Summer, but none for Winter. The Yuki Dress fit this wardrobe gap perfectly for me.

I used the Yuki pattern from Tessuti Fabrics. I made it up directly from the envelope. My body traverses three sizes in their patterns but because of the style of dress, (and to keep things simple), I chose the largest part of my body (bust) and selected my size in accordance with that. The dress is quite roomy through the body. I will probably grade the sides down a little next time.

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I toyed with lengthening the dress. I normally lengthen everything I make (I’m 5″10). However, the pattern pieces seemed long to me when I was laying them out, and I wouldn’t have minded this style of dress being a little shorter. It did turn out quite long. It may be a little longer due to my choice of hem. I did a narrow hem on my dress, but I couldn’t tell you what the instructions ask for in this respect.

The fabric I used was a lovely rayon crepe in navy from The Fabric Store. It’s a gorgeous colour in real life, but like black, so hard to photograph to show details. I had to overexpose the above photo which makes the fabric look sheerer than it really is. I would love to make this dress up again in a wool crepe, a heavyweight cream linen, or perhaps a heavy silk satin. It’s a lovely pattern.

I’ve already worn this dress quite a bit. It’s a stylish, yet easy to wear piece that I can easily wear to work with a turtleneck and tights. I’m looking forward to sewing this one again one day!

Another simple linen shift

I love (and wear!) my last linen shift so much that I knew I needed another. My love for this dress is so strong that I don’t even flinch at the thought that I’m going to have to iron it if I wear it. Trust me, this can be a big deciding factor in my outfit choice for the day.

For this dress, I did a little bit of a scrapbust, using leftover linen from these earlier makes (here and here). Like my last version, this was also a pretty heavily modified version of the Lou Box Top from Sew DIY. My version is sized down several inches through the body. The armscye are dropped at least three inches. I also narrowed the neck a smidge. For the sleeves, I added a little ruffle.

The most interesting thing to note from this make is about the lovely linen. I used a classic light weight linen called Duck Egg and a block printed linen. Both are from The Fabric Store. I think the blue is always kept in stock but the printed linen is disappearing fast. I used exactly the same blue linen to make this dress, but found the blue to be too sheer, which is why I layered the skirt. I planned to do the same for this shift but realised I didn’t actually need to. Obviously the weight of the linen hasn’t magically changed over time. The difference was the fabric I was pairing it with and the fit of the dress. The very opaque knit of the blue dress made the skirt look too lightweight and the style was also a lot more fitted. When I paired the same blue linen with a similar printed linen, the eye was no longer drawn to the lighter fabric on the bottom. The looser style also disguises any possible silhouette, should I decide to stand with my back to a window at midday.

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I will wear this dress a lot. It’s very versatile in the sense that I’ll throw it on over a swimsuit to wear to the pool, and the next week I’ll dress it up with some cool shoes for work.

IKEA shift dress and flared sleeve tutorial

I’m not sure if it is a parenting flaw on my behalf, but my three girls consider a trip to Ikea worth bargaining for. They love visiting Smaland, even though it’s always a small miracle if there are ever enough spaces to take them all in. But even if they don’t get in, they’re at an age now that it is really quite enjoyable walking around and finding things together – things that we never knew we needed.

This is not the first time I’ve been fabric shopping at IKEA. A few years ago I made made curtains, bento bags, and a couple of small dresses with IKEA fabric. This time around, I purchased two yards of stiff cotton with the intention of making a midi skirt or a shift dress. It seems that the shift dress won out in the end.

The pattern I used is based on this floral dress from last year. It’s a very basic, self-drafted shift dress, with flared extensions added to the sleeves.

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There are plenty of patterns you could use to acheive this simple design.

• Vintage shift dress patterns are a dime a dozen. Ebay and Etsy both have heaps. I’ve just looked!
• Papercut Patterns Sea-Bell dress is a more fitted style, but quite an expensive option for such a simple dress.
• Megan Nielsen Dove top is another to consider. It would be easy to extend into a dress, and the sleeves are already done for you.
• The Tessuti Fabrics Maggie Tunic would work well with the addition of flared sleeves.

The above sewing patterns are options, but if you already have a TNT, darted T-shirt, shift dress, or even a nice sheath, it isn’t difficult to add flared sleeves. All you need to do is measure the circumference of the sleeve you are adding to and decide on the length of flare you want.

First, decide which dress/top pattern you want to use:

Now it’s time to create the sleeve extension:

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And there you have it. Flared sleeves couldn’t be easier!

Embroidered organza shift with sleeves

I decided to make a birthday dress for myself this year.  The fabric was purchased for me as a birthday present last year when my husband was on a business trip to NY. He chose it himself which impresses me to no end. At a glance, it’s gorgeous. In real life, it’s a fabric I wouldn’t  have checked out myself. I would have taken one look at the label and put it back on the shelf. And I would have missed out on a lot of fun.

My friends, this delicious embroidered organza is pure, flammable polyester. I suspected as much, but was hoping for a miracle. A burn test outed this beauty. The fibres melted rather than burned. Further confirmation was delivered by an IG buddy who recognised the fabric and remembered its content.

Silk organza would have made this dress an enduring beauty. Polyester organza means this fabric does not breathe. It is stiff, scratchy, and uncomfortably hot. I can deal with the comfort issues by moving the dress into my Winter wardrobe. I think it would look good with a black slip and black tights. The contrast under the sheer organza would be fun.

Unfortunately, my birthday is in the middle of a sweltering Kansas Summer (we’re talking tropical Top End weather to my Aussie friends out there). I could have forgone the sleeves, but the sleeves are an important feature of the dress for me (these were actually the 3rd sleeves I trialled for this dress).

The fabric also does not press or hold a crease. To work around this fact, I kept the design as simple as possible. It’s a sheath with bust darts, French seams throughout, a hand-stitched bound neck, and sleeves. I toyed with the idea of back darts or a CB seam for shaping but after some online research into sheath dress shapes on designer runways, I decided to keep mine without. I’m wearing a white slip underneath it for modesty.

I wasn’t keen on hemming the dress and sleeves because the embroidery makes the organza quite bulky and of course it doesn’t press. My solution was to cut the dress and sleeves on the cross-grain so I could incorporate the beautiful selvedge into the design. After putting the dress together, however, I decided that didn’t like the pretty frayed edges after all. I ended up cutting them off but keeping a portion of the un-embroidered selvedge. I also felt that the original flared sleeves were a bit much for the loud fabric so I cut different, more streamlined sleeves instead.

It was a lot of fun making this dress. I loved problem-solving the fabric issues. I will wear it, but probably not during Summer. It might become my Christmas or New Years dress instead.