Featuring Nani IRO Rakuen silk and cotton in black
The Flora Dress is a new release from Pattern Scout. I was excited when I saw the release because she had detailed this dress on her YouTube channel last year. It was just made from rectangles of fabric with pleats. The simplicity of the dress is exactly the style that I love Pattern Scout patterns for. With the pattern release, the rectangle fabric concept is still there with a bit more refinement in the neckline but still retaining the wide tucks to fit the bodice.
The dress is made for lightweight woven fabrics that do not have any stretch. It was so lucky that I had the Nani IRO Rakuen fabric from DIY District. This fabric is a blend of silk and cotton with a composition of 70 percent cotton and 30 percent silk. It’s beautifully soft and lightweight at approximately 129gsm (a bit under 5oz). “Rakuen” translates to “paradise” which is depicted by the flowers and birds in a garden in what the description describes as a black background but, I would say that it’s more of a midnight blue background. I’m not disappointed as I prefer this colour.
Construction begins with sewing these pleats or tucks in the front and back pieces. It was a very satisfying exercise once you get into the rhythm of matching the notches of the tucks, folding, and marking the lines for the length of the tucks, sewing, and pressing the tucks and then repeating the whole process until the fabric was shaped into a fitted bodice that flared out into a flowy skirt. I guess the process reminds me of origami which is quite meditative and rhythmic when forming the shapes with the process of folding. It also requires the accuracy of origami, so I made sure that I measured the distance of the top and bottom of each tuck.
My sizing fell between the size 12 and 14 with a full bust B Cup. I did a toile of the size 12 because looking at the final measurements, there is a fair amount of ease in the waist and hips. I prioritised the bust measurements in choosing my size which worked out perfectly. To make the toile, I cut the tank top pattern pieces only which saves fabric. I used some of the remnant cotton lawn pieces from various previous makes. When making a toile, I find it’s important to use similar fabric. I’ve learnt this the hard way in the past!
Sewing with the beautiful Nani IRO cotton/silk fabric was lovely. Again, due to the fine nature of this fabric, I sewed with a 75/11 needle to make sure the fabric wouldn’t catch when sewn. I also pre-washed my fabric with an organic detergent (no enzymes) in a cold wash and air dried it. I remember shrinking some rayon once because I thought I would cheat and skip the pre-washing. Bad mistake! It shrunk so significantly that I couldn’t wear the top. That was in my first year of sewing and I’ve not made that mistake again. The other tip I can give regarding sewing with this fabric is to be careful when pinning the fabric. I used my quilters clips at times rather than making holes with my pins. I need to invest in some finer pins like what they use for bridal dressmaking, and I need to sort the blunt pins from the pincushion.
Amazingly, I did not use my overlocker in this make. Pattern Scout is great for their instructions for French seams. I decided to follow those instructions and I’m getting more skilled using French seams. It’s a satisfyingly neat finish. The neckline is finished with bias tape which there are also great instructions if you want to make your own. I used some pre-made black bias tape which saved me a bit of time and fabric.
As you can see from the photos, I’ve sewn the long midi version of the dress with wide straps, and I left out the pockets. I know everybody loves pockets but with the finer fabric, I did not want to risk the outline of pockets and to be honest, I never use pockets in a dress because I’ll always have a bag. It’s a great inclusion in a pattern but I decided to skip it which made the construction even easier. The last thing to point out is the side slits of the dress. Slits are an important inclusion if you want to stride out or ascend stairs with a natural gait!
The Nani IRO fabric is another beautiful gift from DIY Fabric. This is another item sewn for my holiday capsule. I’m looking forward to wearing the beautifully soft and breezy fabric in the heat. It will be good for the evenings where I’ll need something a bit dressier for dinner but will remain cool to wear. There is also a light sheen from the silk in the fabric which probably hasn’t been captured in the photos. It gives the dress a luxurious quality and feels amazing. I can’t say enough how beautiful this fabric is to sew and wear.
Thanks for reading and happy sewing!
X Em
Em Sew Happy Blog 