Crafty Bloggers Club - Vicky's Adelia Dress
This week's Crafty Bloggers Club post is from Vicky, you can find more of her makes on Instagram @sewlittlesparrow and on her blog sewlittlesparrow.com
Hi everyone and thanks for stopping by to read my latest post for the Crafty Sew & So Crafty Bloggers Club.
Back at the end of February when I popped into the Crafty shop the weather was still cold and wet (I think there was another storm in progress!) and we were still all going about our daily business as usual here in the UK. So at that time I was looking forward to the start of spring and time to start planning and making the summer wardrobe and therefore the fabric I chose had 100% summer written all over it.
This absolute stunner of a fabric is a Lady McElroy Viscose Linen in the most wonderful tropical print mixed with stripes and I love everything about it. I really like to wear Linen although don’t have much of it in my wardrobe. It’s such a versatile fabric and obviously ideal to wear in the warmer weather. I know some people have a bit of a thing with the whole creasing issue of Linen, personally I don’t mind it creasing, but the added beauty of this Lady McElroy fabric is the added viscose gives it a much softer, drapey quality to the fabric. You could make pretty much anything for the summer in this fabric from tops, shirts, dresses, trousers, shorts (have I missed anything?). And the colours are beautiful with a mix of chalky greens, coral lilac and yellow, not usually colours I tend to wear but the use of stripes mixed with the floral print is really stunning.
So my initial plan had been to make the Megan Nielsen Matilda dress which I had recently bought. This is a shirt dress described as a “Modern utility style shirt dress” featuring dropped shoulders, princess seams on an A-Line skirt with roomy statement pockets and one of the suggested fabrics was Linen. However……………… I didn’t make the Matilda dress as you can see!
As usual I then spend a good month procrastinating (I really need to sort that out). When I came to start sewing we were well and truly in lockdown and also the weather had turned and we were having some beautiful warm sunny days and this got me thinking. For me to bear my legs and arms it has to be HOT, also my style is pretty casual and I tend to wear a lot more looser fitting garments and with this in mind I came to the conclusion in hotter weather would I wear a more smarter, slightly fitted dress like the Matilda? The conclusion was no, instead I would want something, loose and airy and it would be a shame for something is this beautiful fabric to hang in the wardrobe. So it was on to plan B.
There’s an Australian pattern company I had recently come across called The Hemming and I’d been lusting after a loose fitting Linen dress called the Adelia Dress and that’s what I made. This dress is pretty over sized with dropped shoulders, a lovely simple v-neck with a button down front and features side splits and in seam pockets. It comes as a midi or mini as is designed for Linen. It reminds me of a dress version of the Marilla Walker Roberts Collection Jumpsuit that I made up in a Ramie for the blog last year which I’ve loved wearing.
I chose to make the midi version (I have issues with my knees being on show!) and I love the finished make. I did make a few alterations. I raised the neckline up by 1 1/2 inches as I could tell it would fall pretty low and I’m pleased I did as I think the finished version sits perfectly. I also shortened the sleeves by around an inch or two which is just down to personal preference. The dress is pretty oversized which I know is not to everyones taste and to be honest I was a bit unsure myself so to rectify that issue I also whipped up a tie belt to just pull it all in a bit. I’m also thinking I could wear this open over a vest top and jeans, I think that could look pretty cool. Thankfully I had the perfect wood buttons in my staff too which are a perfect match.
Fabric wise, as expected is was a dream to sew with. It frayed a little bit where I hadn’t yet finished off seams after handling while sewing but really nothing much to worry about. It feels lovely to wear although so far I’ve only wore it to get some pictures (Typically the day I finished it the temperature had dropped back down to 10 degrees having had a few days in the 20’s!). So I can’t comment about the creasing yet but I really don’t envisage it being an issue at all.
Obviously my initial plans for this dress would be holidaying somewhere lovely and hot where I could see myself wandering bear foot along the beach wearing sunglasses and a straw hat. Not sure when that day will come for obvious reasons although I know that day will happen at some point but for now I will be strolling around the garden looking stylish and keeping cool.
I hope everyone is doing ok during these strange times and I’m so thankful to have a hobby that I can lock myself away in a room and switch off from the world. So take care everyone and stay safe.
Thanks for reading.
Vicky (@sewlittlesparrow) xx
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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.”