Hi I'm Lizzy of sewbusylizzy.com... I blog about sewing - and sometimes knitting - and every now and then you score a glimpse of my beloved 'puppies', a crazy whippet and an ancient adopted greyhound. I share a little more of my life and thoughts over on Instagram.
However enough about me. Let's talk about what we all love.... FABRIC!
Despite promising myself not to take on anything after my hockey 'accident', when Maaike asked me to take part in a little blog tour I couldn't resist. I like to support Australian businesses and I also can't resist a little bit of rayon! So much so, I decided to purchase an addition metre of rayon... you know... 'just in case'...
Rayon and/or viscose is my favourite fabric. I absolutely adore the drape, easy care properties and its suitability to my warm temperate climate.
I was delighted when Moonstone Blue arrived. It is a truly lovely viscose. A fabulous workable weight, beautiful deep colours and a drape like seems more like water than fabric.
This print particularly appealed to me, not too girly or 'twee', a soft dark blue - not quite a navy, a little bit softer in tone than navy. I also adore the lovely modern abstract design - note... not one to be too concerned about pattern matching!
I did consider many patterns and settled on one of my all-time favourite patterns, McCalls 7242, the sleeveless maxi shirtdress. A combination of my favourite dress length, the easy elegance of a shirtdress but a comfortable elastic waist and enough ease to showcase the lovely drape of this splendid fabric. If you are based in Australia, you do need to be a little determined to get your hands on a copy of this Laura Ashley pattern as it is not available instore.
I opted to use French seams whereever possible on this dress and the fabric was most agreeable, creating fine neat seams. The inside of the dress is immaculate! I also found that the rayon did not distort or stretch out of shape while sewing, which lesser rayons can do.
I used a lightweight interfacing and shell buttons for this dress.
I decided to size up on my earlier make of this pattern as I really wanted to optimise the lovely fluid-like drape of the Moonstone Blue drape... and I am not disappointed by that decision.
I perhaps should have trimmed the seam allowances of the collar a little more as it is a little weighty and hangs open a little... I considered undoing it... but I prefer the casual way the dress hangs open at the neck. As you can see from my photos, I love to make casual clothes to relax and 'live' in.
Fabric: Moonstone Blue - viscose fabric by Atelier Brunette
Pattern: McCalls 7242
