First Myrtle dress and a little project parade
Colette’s Myrtle pattern was the first sewing pattern I purchased, well over a year ago. I was planning to make the dress out of my prized chevron stag fabric, but then decided the bold fabric was better off being a top and skirt. I finally picked the pattern up again and decided to sew up a wearable toile from some cheap viscose jersey I’d purchased a while back for tests.
I made a few mods. First, I followed Colette’s amazing sew-along tutorial and did an SBA for the front cowl as I didn’t want it too deep.
I think I might have gotten away without one a the result is quite high, almost a portrait or bateau neck instead of a cowl when on. I also decided that the chilly autumn weather made it necessary to give this dress some sleeves, so this might be pulling the neck further across as well!
For the sleeves I used the Dear and Doe’s free Plaintain pattern as the shape seemed to match the Myrtle armscye close-ish, and luckily I just had a little bunching in the upper arm and chest to sort out once I got them in. It took me a bit of researching to learn that this was likely caused by arm slope and upper shoulder shape. When I remake this I am going to try rotating the mid-point of the sleeve forward about an inch, which should help it fit better at the front. Luckily I love bateau necklines so don’t mind!
The jersey ended up being so thin for the skirt so I decided dye the bottom half of the dress to make it presentable. Since this was a ‘wearable toile’ I decided to go all in and tried a simple Shibori technique as an experiment to see how it turned out. Here were my steps:
Amusingly, I ended up with a hilarious chevron pointing straight at my patooty! I have to say that made me laugh. A LOT. ;-P
Overall, though, it isn’t that noticeable and I managed to get it done in time to take on my trip to Spain. The dye served it purpose in making the skirt opaque and it is a super comfy wear.
The method of inserting the elastic at the waist is very clear, and after my confubled experience trying to do the same kind of waist treatment with my Named Leini, with less clear directions (which I haven’t yet blogged), this was an absolute BREEZE.
As a jersey dress it packs small and the wrinkles just fall out of the viscose. Perfect travel dress.
I will be making this again and again and am trying to decide what fabric to make it in next. Something heavier for winter!
On the yarn front, here are some amazing recent makes I came across while catching up on the Kettle Yarn Co. group this week as a bit of eye candy for the blog! Check out these fantastic makes:
demonknitter24’s stunning Against All Odds in Beyul fingering, Turquoise Tarn, Iceberg and Steppe
AuntieAipee’s super cute Artichoke hat in Islington DK, Old Smoke with Padparadscha pom
KaritaR‘s beautiful Very Pretty Lace Beret by Vera Sanon in Heath fingering, Lichen Marl
magenta74’s Transmute in Beyul fingering, Monk’s Robe and Black Quartz
knittingfiona’s ethereal Rivington shawl in Islington fingering, Icicle
Aren’t they stunning? Follow through the links to read about their projects on Ravelry!
