The Wheelie Stitcher

This dress just screams summer parties to me. As soon as I put it on, my mind drifted off to a sun soaked beach …. only problem was the UK weather had different ideas so my dream was rudely awakened by a heavy downpour. (Hence the photos being taken in my conservatory.)

Before I do anything else, I’ve got to talk about the fabric! (and what an incredible fabric it is.)

This is Vibrant Flowers from Minerva’s new Exclusive Viscose Challis range. It is so luxuriously soft, and yet behaves wonderfully when sewing. There are lots of things to really love about it, the weight is perfect not too fine and it drapes beautifully. It is also 150cm wide which is a rarity these days. It doesn’t fray excessively and holds a press well.

As always, I started by washing the fabric and then line dried it. As Challis can fray I overlocked the edges before popping it into the washer.

My pattern is Butterick B6677. I chose to make view ‘A’ out of practicality, but would have loved to make view ‘B’ with its tiered skirt. Unfortunately long flowy skirts and wheelchair wheels don’t play nicely together so knee length won the day.

I tissue fitted my pattern prior to cutting out and had to make my usual FBA.

Hubby then kindly cut everything out using a rotary cutter. I decided to make my own bias binding as I wanted it to coordinate with the fabric and I felt a single colour pre-made one would stand out too much.

I used a microtex needle and a walking foot throughout the project. Overall the pattern is very easy to make and I love how the ruffles create the illusion of sleeves.

I’m definitely going to be using this pattern again and I would highly recommend the Minerva fabric. This one was kindly gifted to me but I will certainly be trying out more of the range in the future.

(Image descriptions : Yvonne is a plus-size white female in her late 40’s with salt and pepper grey hair. She is pictured smiling, sat in her electric wheelchair in her conservatory . She is wearing a knee length sleeveless dress with a waist tie and ruffles running down either side of the bodice. The fabric has a black background and is covered with flowers and leaves in vibrant shades of pink, purple orange and green. There are six images, each taken to show the dress from different angles).

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