Monday 8 December 2014

The Dress of General Usefulness


 I made this one in the beginning of September. It is made of medium heavy linen and is great. I like linen for its texture and the fact that it is environmentally better fabric than cotton. It does not require pesticides as it is fast to grow and also grows in colder climates.

The back has a yoke and gathered fabric, which gives room for movement in the dress.



I like the front "grandpa shirt" smock detail.

 
 The pattern comes from Merchant and Mills and is called the Shirtdress, but adjusted it a bit. The original has sleeves, so I had to make pattern pieces to see that the armholes were neat.


As you see I used another fabric, a lighter linen for this. It stops it becoming bulky and also I had only 1.5m of the heavy linen, which would not have been enough for adding these pieces.

I also re-shaped the hem to suit my purposes and added pockets.


I have actually made the dress according to the pattern before, but haven't shown it here.

The dress is great; it covers me, leaves plenty of room to move, is easy to wear with different tops under it and the fabric cost £12 from IKEA. At the moment my favourite combo is a yellow and white striped long sleeved t-shirt and mustard yellow tights.

The dress is named after a draw in my household. Yes, a draw. We have a draw called "The Draw of General Usefulness". It is a draw having bits and pieces of stuff, which are not used daily, but regularly enough so they need to be found easily and there is no other "logical" place to put them in. In my draw I have my hair dryer, 3D glasses for cinema, bright LED light for attic visits, DVD player for journeys etc.
This dress has a feeling of being really useful for many purposes and although I don't wear it EVERY day, it is in pretty heavy use. I have also lately made a version with a wool mix fabric. I'll take pictures of it as soon as the light and timetable allow and show it to you.

Have you made or bought clothes, which you seem to use "all the time"?

4 comments:

Stressitohtori said...

I-H-A-N-A mekko!

Mama Elf said...

Kiitti...tästä on tullut mun uus lempikaava ja tää mekko tulee kuolemaan kulutukseen, kuten mun muutkin lempimekot.

ॐRachel said...

I am drawn to this pattern but as you have done I would like a sleeveless version with pockets! I haven't done any sewing since school days - a long time ago - do you think I should look for an alternative to this for a first attempt? The Merchant & Mills shop is in my home town, aren't I lucky?!

Mama Elf said...

Hi Rachael! Sorry for the loooooong delay in replying, must be better at checking...I think it totally depends at what skill level you were when you stopped sewing. If you were already a dab hand at using clothing patterns, I am sure you could easily do the alteration. If you were not, maybe another project to "warm up" with?