Sew Over it London - Rosie Dress, version 2.

 Hey everyone,

I thought I would share my experience of making the Sew Over it Rosie Dress.  I love this dress and think it looked perfect on my model Sophie. The combination of structured bodice with the linen fabric resulted in a versatile dress that could either be worn to a wedding or to the park on a summer's day.

We decided to take the dress for a bit of a spin on a gloriously sunny, winter's day here in Brisbane.  

Fitting

I was making this dress for another body, which makes fitting both easier and harder! It's always so much easier to pin someone else, but harder because you actually have to arrange fittings. Luckily Sophie lives round the corner.

Her measurements were somewhere between the size eight and ten so I decided to begin by making the size ten as this gave me fabric to play with. In hindsight I think the 8 would have been a better fit, but it would have definitely needed a full bust alteration. When this did come to light I was too far in with the size ten so I ended up pinching out some fullness and draglines under the bust and taking in the waist and side seams quite a bit. 

Adding Structure - think underlining, interfacing and spiral steel boning! 

I was keen to achieve a really fitted bodice as the skirt is quite full and gathered and I felt it needed this contrast. I also decided it would be great for Sophie if she could wear the dress without a bra, particularly as we had opted for version two with the very narrow straps. For this reason and because I was working with linen (which has a bit of a loose weave) I decided to underline in a black calico to give it more structure. I also used black interfacing on the front and side bodice panels. This definitely helped to keep the princess seams smoother over the bust. You need a light-weight woven interfacing for this as you don't want the fabric to become too stiff and rigid. I also decided to use spiral steel boning rather than the plastic boning. The pattern states that plastic boning is all that is needed and I am sure it would work well. However, having recently completed the Gertie Lamour workshop when she was in Brisbane she showed us the merits of using the spiral steel boning and it's safe to say I am a total convert. 

Lining the bodice and skirt

I decided to use up some black silk remnants that I had for the lining. I didn't want to risk this poking out the top of the bodice so I used facing pieces in the blue linen. Click here to see how I created a pattern for this.

I lined the skirt with a black voile to match the black silk lining, using an A-line skirt. To create the A-line skirt I measured the front and the back of the waist on the already created bodice and transferred these measurements to the top of the skirt, adding seam allowances, 1.5cm on each side, in this case. From the waist I drew a gentle A-line shape towards the hem and made the skirt a few centimetres shorter that the main skirt.

I decided to use up some black silk remnants that I had for the lining. I didn't want to risk this poking out the top of the bodice so I used facing pieces in the blue linen. Click here to see how I created a pattern for this.

I lined the skirt with a black voile to match the black silk lining, using an A-line skirt. To create the A-line skirt I measured the front and the back of the waist on the already created bodice and transferred these measurements to the top of the skirt, adding seam allowances, 1.5cm on each side, in this case. From the waist I drew a gentle A-line shape towards the hem and made the skirt a few centimetres shorter that the main skirt.

Details, details!

Just for a bit of fun, I decided to add a few little details to the dress to tie in with Eddie's doggy bandana, which was made from Cotton and Steel fabric and had the navy linen piping around the edge. On the back lining of the dress bodice I used my embroidery machine to add Sophie's initials and a doggy paw. I also hemmed Sophie's skirt using bias binding made out of the same fabric as Eddie's bandana. I added a 1950s style head tie in the same fabric and piping - who doesn't love a bit of matchy, matchy!? There are plans in the making at Sewing Gem to get Vlogging and we plan to start with how to make a bandana like Eddie's - watch this space!

Tips and tricks

It says to use a loop turner for the Rouleax straps in the pattern. Heed this advice if you are doing version 2. It is absolutely essential. We sell them in store if you need one, just click here. I will try and do a quick little video on using one of these. It's pretty easy once you know how.

There are few different ways to gather the skirt. I opted for the dental floss method which I find works well when you have a lot of skirt to gather. I'm also hoping to do a vlog on all the different methods of gathering as even gathers is something that can really make or break a project.

 
Overall

I really like version 2 of the dress. In fact I like all three versions, although I think the spaghetti straps in this version give it a real femininity. Also I’m not usually a gathered skirt kinda girl so I did freak out a bit as I gathered quite a large amount of fabric together. However, because of the flat pleated panel it actually works really well; so well that I’m pretty tempted to make one of these for myself. I'm thinking light blue linen ready for summer, what do you think?

If you fancy making one of these for yourself in the linen we do stock a number of plain coloured linens here. 

Thanks for reading.

Gemma