I’m continuing my monochrome phase it seems with my latest make!

I picked up this black and white tartan fabric from The Textile Centre recently (it says viscose on the description but feels more like a polyester mix in my opinion – I can’t be sure though!) with the aim of making a little gathered dress!

My idea was patching together the Fibre Mood Mira dress (see my previous versions here, here and here) with the sleeves from the By Hand London Hannah dress (see my tester version here)! I wanted to make something short and sweet but with dramatic sleeves and this seemed like the best combo.

I kept the Mira bodice exactly the same and chose to do a simple single tier gathered skirt. I added more width to the rectangular skirt piece than the original though.

The sleeve I pretty much kept the same but instead on creating a channel for the ties I added elastic in the cuff. As much as I LOVED the original ties I found they were super impractical and I kept getting them in everything! I figured the elastic would be a little safer!

The end result is kind of a 60s smock dress. It’s not quite what I expected! I don’t know if it’s the shape or just having so much plaid without anything breaking it up… 🤔. I think the additional fullness in the skirt didn’t help my cause!

That being said I still really like it. It’s perfect with tights and boots which is great for winter in the U.K.