I bought this beautiful, slightly crinkly linen gingham from Japan a few years ago, during our last visit there and it was always intended to be a Vogue 2900… I frequently jump and haa about a particular fabric and which one of the one million different designs it could better be suited to, so it’s pretty nice when a piece of fabric can actually get matched with a pattern and actually go through with it, and no agonising along the way!
There’s probably not much more to say… this Donna Karan design has been a favourite for years, I’ve made a few – this is my fourth! – and still wear and love all of them. I initially thought about putting in a contrasting bias-cut strip like I did with my first one but it actually looked way too busy. Painstakingly, I unpicked each one and saved the strips for a future project.
I cut out the front pieces twice, because the first time I was dissatisfied with how the centre front seam turned out. The second attempt, I carefully cut them so the pattern of the gingham meets up perfectly in the centre, as if there was no seam there at all. It looks so much better than my first attempt, which, although the checks matched, the overall colour pattern was not matched across the seam so it looked weird. My second attempt looks way better.
I also cut some pieces on the bias, for visual interest, and think this looks quite nice. I’m glad I did it! The armhole and back neckline are finished with bias cut strips. After understitching, I turned these under and hand stitched them back to the dress as invisibly as possible.
I’m going to enjoy wearing this dress over summer. I like wearing short dresses and skirts, but I also like this longer length too. It’s such a comfortable style, and quite chic too, imo.
The post check it out… appeared first on Handmade by Carolyn.
