So in love with this new dress! This is definitely one of those projects that started with awesome fabric and a fun pattern and came out just how I imagined it! And I even finished it in time for spring! (Sorry not sorry for all the exclamation points!)
First, the fabric!! About a year ago Mood (online) got in a bunch of Liberty of London prints and were selling them for less than typical Liberty prices (at least in the U.S.). I have heard about Liberty prints, of course, and even admired many of them online, but I had never bought any of their fabric before. I absolutely fell in love with one called "Floral Eve". The back story to this particular print is pretty cool. The design was originally a painting that depicts a representative plant from each family of flowering plants; it was a merging of art and science. As a biologist, I thought this was really cool, and I knew that I had to have some. When I got the fabric, I really came to appreciate why Liberty of London fabric is famous. The detail of the print is truly astounding, and I love just looking at it. This fabric is not the well known Tana lawn, but rather a 50/50 silk-cotton voile, which makes it somewhat see-through.
Slightly blurry close-up of the fabric.
One pattern that had caught my eye awhile ago was Marfy 2601, which used to be available from the Vogue/Butterick/McCall's website but isn't any longer. I find Marfy patterns fit me pretty well aside from just a bit of shortening (1 inch in the bodice and 1 in the skirt), so I cut into my precious fabric without doing a muslin. I live on the wild side, I know.
The construction actually went remarkably smoothly. Instead of just plunging ahead and then having to get creative to make things work, which is what I normally end up doing Marfy patterns, I actually took the time to think things through. For instance, I realized it would be best to do narrow hems on the neckline before sewing together. Since the dress is see-through, I did french seams, everywhere except for the armscye. If I had really been good about thinking ahead, I would have given myself wider seam allowances because doing french seams on 1/2" seam allowances is hard. Luckily, with the help of my quilting foot, I managed. For the armscye, I used Hug Snug seam binding. The gathering bit on the bodice is a lapped seam, and I also used binding to finish that.
Overall, I am really happy with this dress and it feels very springlike. Using such a light fabric, but have 3/4 length sleeves also makes it work nicely for those in-between spring temperatures. There are just two minor flaws that could have been tweaked. One problem is some slight gaping in the left side bodice. I think this occurred because of how I shortened my bodice. I may take a small dart to fix it on this dress, and transferring that change as a dead dart should fix the pattern. The other is that the fit across the back is just a bit tight. I really could have used a broad back adjustment, and I will make sure to incorporate that on any future Marfy patterns. I was out of town when I took these pictures, so I am not wearing the slip that was meant for this dress. I didn't even have a full slip with me, so instead I am wearing a camisole and a half slip.
