I’m no stranger to making clothing out of unexpected fabric sources – afterall, I was on the cover of the New York Times nearly 20 years ago with my shower curtain dress, but this is the first time I’ve sewn anything from a tablecloth!
When Flying Tiger released their seasonal Halloween stuff last fall, I might’ve gone a little overboard, but I have no regrets about buying this tablecloth – it’s 2.2m of 150cm wide 100% cotton fabric for £16! Even though it’s fairly thick and stiff, it was still a little too translucent for my taste so I paired it with a thin 100% cotton lining from New Craft House, 2m at £12/m.
With that much fabric I knew I wanted to make another Named Saraste shirtdress (from their Breaking the Pattern book), as I love both my dress versions and the untold shirt and top versions I’ve made from this pattern. I didn’t fancy printing off a whole ‘nother A0 pattern though, so I frankenpatterned my larger size shirt pieces with the smaller size dress pieces I’d printed out years ago and fudged the difference. With the skirt being mostly a gathered rectangle, it really didn’t matter much if it was going to be off by a few milimeters.
The pumpkin, candle, and raven print is directional but I still had enough fabric, but not much leftover. I had to cut the huge, gathered back piece 5cm off the fold (so slightly less gathering, big whoop), and shortened the skirt pieces by 10cm to fit everything in, but these were absolutely acceptable compromises in my opinion.
And I love this print! I don’t care that it’s technically Halloween – the ravens and pumpkins speak to me! In my head I’ve been calling it “The Witchcraft Dress” as I sewed (it feels like it’s channeling the latest Florence & the Machine album)
Annoyingly, it took ages to prep everything before I could even start sewing, as there’s lots of pattern pieces, I had to cut almost everything twice (in exterior & lining fabrics), with some interfaced as well. I only cut the Front (under)lining up to the folded placket edge so it’d be caught when the placket edge is folded over, eliminating some bulk.
I wanted the bodice to be underlined but the skirt pieces hanging freely like a lining, so I hand basted all the edges of the bodice pieces together along the edges with silk thread (which pulls out waaaay easier than poly thread and is my basting thread of choice).
The pockets are made from the lining fabric, inserted into the exterior fabric side seams only. I didn’t want the pocket bags to hang between the lining and exterior though, so I left a hole in the lining side seams for the pocket to hang through. This actually seems to work pretty well so I’d try this trick again.
I thought I’d have to go out to buy either white or black buttons but before I jumped on my ebike, I had a look through my button drawer and I’m glad I did! I turned out I had 15 small black buttons that were just perfect for this dress.
Despite the seasonal print, this is a really great all-year round day dress for me – comfortable enough to wear anywhere. The short sleeves mean I can layer a cardigan over it in winter, but the body itself is loose enough to be airy in summer too.