This weeks Crafty Bloggers Club post is from a very festive Rhiannon, you can find more of her makes on Instagram @rhiannonbrum and on her blog morebluefabric.co.uk

I’m going to start today’s post with a bit of a confession. As I was making this garment, I wasn’t very sure that I was going to like it. The fit is very different to my usual style, the colours – whilst gorgeous – are an end of the palette I rarely approach and I just couldn’t figure out how I was going to be able to make it work in the real world as an item of clothing.

Spoiler alert: I was wrong. Let’s dial back a bit first though.

I was talking with Freya about what my next make for the Crafty Bloggers Club should be, whilst looking through their frankly vast catalogue of gorgeous fabrics, seeking inspiration. My eye kept being drawn to the viscose crepes; I had visions of something floaty yet a bit more suited to the fast approaching winter nights than my summer makes (think a lot of chiffon). I knew too that it would need to be something that could be layered practically without fuss to get me through the coldest days.

Freya suggested the Indigo dress pattern from Tilly and the Buttons as the way to achieve this. It’d been released for a few months, and I wasn’t sure about whether it would actually work for me (see above), however as Freya hadn’t been wrong before I trusted her judgement and forged ahead. Boy am I glad that I did!

The pattern itself is a piece of cake to sew up. I did a couple of toiles to make sure that the bust darts were in the right place for me as in my case they needed both moving up and moving in to make the garment fit more flattering. From there it was all straight lines and gathers, particularly as I chose not to go for the exposed ruffle and I also didn’t add the pockets in (I can hear you gasp from here!).

That being said, the fabric I chose was a bit of a devil at points. It has the tiniest bit of stretch in it which, paired with the smoothness of the fabric, meant it was frustrating to cut out. With hindsight I’d recommend using a rotary cutter and pattern weights if you choose to sew with it rather than scissors and pins; it’ll make for a neater finish as well as less scissor-related aggravation. I’d also recommend considering using a walking foot if you have one. Again, this is something I didn’t think to do until later into the sewing process and it would have saved a lot of user-inflicted mishaps had I done so. If you take all of this into consideration, you’ll have a great single-evening project in Indigo rather than a slightly-longer project in the way that I approached it!  

As for that finished garment, it has indeed proven to be everything I was looking for (see, I told you Freya was wise). I wore it for the first time on a trip to the beach in Norfolk, where it was layered with leggings and very many jumpers (not pictured!). The sleeve length also means that you could comfortably put a t-shirt underneath for added warmth. Plus, the high cut of the waistline – again something I wouldn’t normally go for – meant that I could eat the world’s biggest roast dinner after our walk and remain comfortable, a definite plus.

I’ve already got plans to make at least one more Indigo (I see you Christmas dinner….) and whilst I doubt they’ll be part of my work-week wardrobe, I can certainly see this becoming a Sunday staple in the future. My final piece of advice? Even if you think it isn’t for you, push yourself out of your comfort zone and give it a go. Like me, you’ll almost certainly find yourself pleasantly surprised. 

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“Crafty Bloggers Club Contributors are given products and materials to test from Crafty Sew&So. We hope you enjoy their honest and impartial reviews of the products. All opinions are their own.”