The Late Night Sewist

This year as it happens, I am travelling abroad every month from March to August, sometimes for work and sometimes for holidays, meaning interesting fabric shopping opportunities but less time for the actual sewing!

I spent a few days in Valencia, Spain last week for another conference and as a lucky coincidence, one of my best friends also currently lives there so I got to see her and her sweet family as well! The only downside was that between the busy conference days and social meetings, I basically did not have time to see the city itself. However, I managed to squeeze in a super fast photo shoot on one of the days just before the first conference session of the day and one fabric shop in the last afternoon.

The dress is a mix of two patterns, Burda 2/2009 models 105 and 106. I made the dress based mostly on model 105 (below left), but used the chest pockets from model 106 (below right), as they seemed more fun. I omitted the front skirt pockets, as the were drafted into the front panel seams, a rather uncomfortable spot for actually making use of the pockets. I also skipped the tabs for the belt, since I prefer to wear the dress without one.

I cut size 38 for the bodice and 40-something for the hips. As it happened, I totally forgot to do it the first time around and the skirt turned out to be too tight, so I was really lucky to have some extra fabric for new pieces.

Otherwise the dress went well together, especially the sleeves, I got them at the first attempt! However, now looking at the photos, I am not entirely happy with the fit. I would say the bodice could be slightly narrower at the back, but somehow I notice these errors only after completely finishing the garment.

The material is linen mixed with golden metallic thread, bought from Amsterdam, however due to the lighting conditions, it is not so obvious in the photos and the fabric looks a bit dull. The dress is very comfy, though, and I actually made it having the two conferences in hot climate (Singapore and Valencia) in mind, so that I would have something conference-appropriate, but breathable to wear. So far the dress has been perfect in that matter, although it wrinkles horribly as linen fabric usually does – the photos above were taken before the first session of the day and I think I only sat down for putting on my shoes!

As you can see, I lined the skirt part of the dress for higher wearing comfort and also because it seemed that the linen might be too see-through against light. I did not want to line the whole thing because the lining is synthetic and I was afraid adding a lining might reduce the breathability of the main fabric.

I did my homework on fabric shops in Valencia prior to the trip and managed to visit one that turned out to be a great experience. The shop is called Julian Lopez and it is three floors full of beautiful fabrics, cut and sold by gentlemen in sharp suits. However, the last floor is dedicated to fabrics used for local traditional clothes and the second floor to decoration fabrics and quilting cottons, so only the ground floor remains for fashion fabrics, but the selection is good and I think there is something beautiful for any budget.

I bought a polyester crepe in a rather crazy and humorous print – the fabric is very busy, but once you look closer, there is a rooster right in the middle! I like this funny detail and my current plan is to make an extravagant jumpsuit out of this.