Dreaming of…spring cottons and hearty good wishes

Last month I made 3 dresses for myself. All of which were from fabric from my stash. All of which I took photos of on holiday. And, all of which I love!

Simplicity recently got in touch and asked if I’d like to be part of their bloggers network in return for a free pattern. Of course I said yes.

I’ve had Simplicity 2444 on my pattern list for years, so the first pattern choice was easy. It’s a pretty simple dress, in exactly the same style as I usually make, but I love the darts and the pleated skirt.

This first one is made using a beautiful quilting cotton, very sweetly called ‘hearty good wishes’. I knew straight away that I wanted it to be my Spring for Cotton dress. I think it has enough vintage inspiration to qualify?

I looked up the pattern before I made it and noticed that lots of people had issues with neckline gaping. After making a muslin (from cotton voile, which was awkwardly thin to work with!), I knew that I’d need to take an inch from the front. On the muslin I just put a dart in the CF so I could use it as a lining, but for the actual fabric, I followed this excellent and very simple tutorial to remove the gaping.

Dart on voile lining

I think the bodice front fits pretty well now.

I didn’t really consider the back gaping as I was planning to put buttons there so I thought I’d just chop off any excess at the CB. This didn’t quite work as I fully lined the bodice and then forgot about the back gaping when I put in the buttonholes.

I don’t think it matters tooooooo much, but the buttons do pull a little bit awkwardly now because they don’t line up perfectly.

The buttons I used are actually brightly patterned on the other side, but I wanted to go for the natural, muted vibe with the colour palette. I didn’t have enough to go down the length of the entire CB, so I just sewed the base of the button placket closed. It works for me.

When I tried on the dress towards the end, the finished length looked a bit dowdy. I didn’t want to chop off the fabric in case I want it longer one day. I considered doing a deep hem, but in the end I decided to pleat the bottom of the skirt to make it look more vintage and more aesthetically pleasing. I love that feature now.

I wore this dress to the top of the Untersberg mountain in Salzburg – amidst about 100ft of snow, which is definitely why I look so cold in this hilarious photo!

…and then in the gardens of Mirabell palace – where they filmed the Sound of Music’s Do-Re-Mi.

Considering all the action it had seen throughout the day, I think it stood up pretty well to the crease test. Fortunately it goes well with tights and a coat, as it was freezing in Salzburg, I was very pleased to re-layer up!

Has anyone else been on holiday recently? I love having new made things to wear away. So many more interesting photo locations than my garden wall!