wardrobe essentials 2017 - the Upton dress

Attempting to twirl for Annie but it was a bit slippery. We should do something about the mess in the garden. 

Apologies for the drab photos! I didn't even bother with brushing my hair... The bottom photo is most true to colour. I have made this dress so long ago that I somewhat lost all enthusiasm to write about it but it deservers a mention.

The Upton dress is the first wearable dress I made for myself. I had a go at making a dress two years ago but it was a bit of a disappointment. I was far less experienced and had only sewn little girl dresses up to then. I don't wear dresses much and on the whole, I prefer making tops. It is less costly, too. However, summer holidays without a dress are no fun and I fancied a bit of a sewing challenge.

I chose the Upton dress because of it is designed for woman with generous curves. I like that. The dress has two basic skirt versions and two basic bodice versions, which can be interchanged. The choice is between scoop neck or V-neck combined with a high back or a V-back. The skirt options are gored or pleated. I chose the bodice with the V-neck, which is mirrored in the back. Pleats don't suit me I don't think and I opted for the gored skirt. Both skirt versions have pockets. Every woman needs pockets in her dresses!

I spent a while tweaking the bodice. The dress bodice is designed with very little ease but I do like to breathe and went a size up from my normal size.

There are quite a few pattern pieces and cutting took a while. I didn't pattern match because I didn't have enough fabric. I found a really beautiful beige fabric with delicate birds printed on. Beige is not my colour but the birds won me over. Aren't they pretty? It is cotton lawn, soft and light.

The bodice is fully lined. Initially I used the main fabric for the lining but the birds were showing through so I went out to get a short length of plain beige cotton.

The dress has a long zip in the back. I sewed this in outside in so had to unpick it all again. That was the only hiccup I had with the sewing and was the result of sewing in a trance late into the night. The pattern instructions are clear and every step is well explained. There is a sew-along on the Cashmerette webpages but to be honest, the written instructions are better. I forgot to mention that I ordered the paper pattern for this dress. I usually prefer pdf patterns and I remembered why when I traced the pattern pieces onto pattern paper. Paper patterns are so thin and the sheets are so big, I find tracing a pain. I always forget a notch or something, which is another disadvantage in my view. It takes as long as sticking printed pages together.

As I don't often wear dresses I am a little uncomfortable wearing the Upton. I had to wear leggings to cycle to work, no reason to scare drivers by exposing my memorable thighs... I love the fabric and I like the cut. I think both suit me. I would probably prefer the scoop neck and the high back but can't be sure. Cashmerette has just today released a pattern expansion pack for three kinds of sleeves, making the Upton dress even more versatile. I think I like the idea of sleeves. I am not that keen on sleeveless  anything.

Unfortunately I got to wear the dress twice only. That's right, twice. That's how bad the Scottish summer has been. I decided to take some photos today, before the onset of winter (yuck). It was miserably cold and rained for most of the day, hence the cardigan.

My next dress project will be a shirt dress. I have pattern and fabric but will hold off until I have lost a little weight. Fancy that, loosing weight. Sounds easy, like loosing keys, eh?

I hope you are all tucked up warmly. Thanks for stopping by. xx