East Woody

Since our move here, we have headed down to the beach for a walk more evenings than not.  There are a few beaches to choose from, and East Woody (Galaru) is one of our favourites.  At low tide, you can walk across to the island (Dhamitjinya).

Up until now, the sky has always been clear there.  Not yesterday when we took the camera though.  I think the haziness was a combination of increasing humidity and smoke from fires.  I was wearing my new dress. 

The fabric is a Milly silk print, purchased from EmmaOneSock.  I'm not sure of the weave, but it feels like the silk faille that I used to make this dress.   It is matte, with good drape, and enough absorptivity to be comfortable in hot weather.  I think it is the absorptivity that makes linen and cotton so comfortable in hot weather, but I could be wrong.

The pattern was Vogue 8552, which I have used previously here and here.  In the above photo, you can see that I deviated from the pattern and made the pleats uneven at the CF.  This was to hide the beige stripe, as the beige was not very flattering against my skin.  You can make these sort of changes when you sew for yourself. I also used a bias binding facing, as ironing the pleated facings on my previous version always annoys me. 

The pattern has a pegged front and straight back, but I changed the front to be straight, as there is a bit of walking stress on the side seams of my second version. 

Initially I was going to sew up a Burda dress with an elastic waist-tie in a casing, but substituted this pattern instead.  I was going to add the casing, but decided not to, as I have realised that my preferred style is loose dresses.  I figured that I could add a belt if I wanted more shape.  Belts can be restrictive though, if they are tight enough to provide shape, so I decided to add a removable casing.  I have thread an elastic tie through a self made casing; essentially an elasticised belt.

It never occurred to me to try and match stripes until after the dress was made up.  I cut the sleeves double, folded on the hemline (as for my first version of this dress) and I was careful to lay the sleeve pattern with the same colour stripe along the hemline.

This is my third dress from this pattern, but I don't feel that the dresses are so similar as to be boring, so I foresee a few more versions.