AD – gifted fabric
I was very kindly asked to be one of the brand ambassadors for The New Craft House recently – a role where I could pick out a fabric of my choice in exchange to make a garment in exchange for some photos! I leapt at the chance as The New Craft House always seem to have an endless influx of new ex designer deadstock fabrics that I can’t wait to get a hold of!
I spent a while deciding on a fabric and ended up with this lovely pear green viscose satin (which unfortunately is no longer in stock! This one is similar though!). I ordered it with two possible makes in mind which I would decide between depending on how the fabric felt when it arrived – if the fabric was weighty enough I wanted to make some swishy culottes and if it was on the lighter side I’d make a slip dress. Once I received the fabric it was an easy choice to make – it had the most beautiful drape to it that definitely needed to be a slip dress!
The obvious choice for a slip dress pattern would’ve been the Sicily Slip by Sewing Masin which really made the rounds last year and whilst I’m normally one to follow the pack, I deciding to turn left and chose the Freya dress from Vikisews instead! There were two main reasons behind this choice: 1) I loved the back design of the Freya dress, 2) these Russian patterns are simply a fraction of the cost of most indie patterns. Not to say an indie patten isn’t worth it – you’re only buying one particular size from Vikisews and there’s the whole language barrier too – but it’s been a while since I wore a slip dress or a cowl neck so I figured I’d test the waters before investing!
The Freya dress has a wide cowl, skinny spaghetti straps which crossover in the back and ties together over a deep V. It’s cut on the bias so you get all the drape and fluidity that comes with that.
I’d forgotten how much I dislike sewing on the bias. The results from fabric cut on the bias is beautiful but man, is it hard to cut and sew! Partly that’s due to my lack of experience and partly due to the fact my cutting table wasn’t really big enough to handle it! Next time I think I’d have to lay my fabric on the floor to cutting make sure nothing is shifting!
That said, with a bit of patience (and pressing) it can be done! There’s actually minimal sewing involved as you can imagine in a dress this simple. The lack of English instructions was kind of moot as there was only one way to really see it together! (That being said, just this week, Vikisews have launched English instructions so this won’t be a worry for any future purchases!)
The fit of the dress was a little off for me – mostly because I landed between two sizes and stupidly went up instead of down. I forgot how much ease comes with bias cut garments! I also shortened the length a bit to make it less evening gown! The back V is my favourite even though it also shows off some less favourable bits! I found the front cowl a little too wide set for my liking. Not something I could change though and it’s only when I looked back on the sample photos later that I realised was part of the design. Something to be aware of if you’re picking out a pattern!
There’s something so classic about a satin slip dress I think. It’s really one of those items that’ll slip (😂) in and out of trends so readily that it’ll always kind of work! On its own it’s super fancy, but layered with a white tee and it’s pop-to-the-shops fancy!
