This might possibly be the world’s longest UFO!
I bought this fabric at a fabric shop in San Cristobel de las Casas when we toured around Mexico in 2013! To my credit, I tried to turn it into a skirt at least twice, with the latest iteration using a Burda magazine pattern with a scooped hem and loads of shirring at the waist. I did the shirring at the Sewing Weekender in 2018, back when it was in person! But no matter what I did, it just looked deeply unflattering.
I had already lined it with a black voile I’d bought in person at Fabrics Galore, and all the hems were all finished. A few years ago I painstakingly unpicked all the shirring, and it’s been hanging in my sewing room ever since, awaiting inspiration.
Enter Cashmerette’s Irving Dress, which I made in Brodie anglaise jersey and saw the potential for this Mexican fabric! The Irving calls for jersey fabrics, but because the skirt is just a hugely gathered rectangle, I figured a woven skirt would work fine so long as the bodice was jersey – and I was right!
However, I wanted the neckline of the Jalie 3245 tanks, so I frankenpatterned the top of the Jalie tank onto the rest of the Irving bodice. I cut the exterior and lining from the same black cotton jersey in my stash (originally from New Craft House but leftover from last summer’s self-drafted swing tee), barely being able to fit it into the scraps.
I changed the construction of the bodice away from the burrito method in the Irving instructions – instead I joined the two back layers together at the armholes and neckline, then joined the fronts at the armholes and neckline. I turned the Fronts right side out and pressed well, then inserted the straps into the Backs so the right sides were facing, and sewed the shoulder seams in one go. Then I sewed them together at the side seams, sewing the linings together, over the seam, and then the exteriors together. Pressed and then basted the bottom edges together since the fabric really wanted to curl! This meant I didn’t have to struggle with turning the full bodice through the narrow straps.
I thought about adding pockets into the side seams of the skirt, but as these were already sewn and I wasn’t sure if I’d even like the finished dress, I reasoned that I could always add them later if I missed them, and it’d be exactly the same amount of work as doing it now…
Then I just needed to gather the top edge of the Mexican skirt before attaching it to my new bodice. Since it was a lot of fabric to gather and already two layers, I used a thicker upholstery thread to minimise the chances of thread breaking as I pulled. I also stopped my stitching at the centers as well as the side seams so I only had to fight to gather a quarter of the skirt at a time.
I sewed the waist seam using the sewing machine rather than the overlocker just in case I ever need to adjust the sizing/gathers in future.
And voila! I can finally wear this souvenir fabric from possibly my favourite EVER holiday! And it only took 12 years!!