FINISHED! My Frocktails 2014 trompe l'oeil dress

This weekend, Amanda, Jen, Myra and I got on a Murray's Bus and road tripped it to Sydney for Frocktails. A fantastic event organised by Kat, I'm sure there will be lots of links on various blogs as there was simultaneously one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. It was so wonderful to finally meet so many sewing friends in real life.  What did I wear? Well my frock was made out of more magical fabric bought from my recent trip to Spotlight where I picked up fabric for my sister's saunio.  I spent most of yesterday in a mild state of nerves that someone else might be in a dress in this fabric. Two ladies in this fabric would have been difficult to hide. 

Yes, this one is also a 'polycotton' with a dubious mix of 96% polyester 4% spandex. But just look at those colours.  This fabric is fantastic. The colours are vibrant and neon.  At first glance the fabric looks like it should be a tweed, the fabric fooling the eye that it is woven. But no, the fabric is a thick stretch with a lovely 'bobbly' plastic like texture that is hard to not want to stroke. The back of the fabric as you can see is a white/cream. These indoor photos show the colours the best.  Needless to say I couldn't get any good photo indoors at the actual event so these will have to do. 

The dress itself is a Named Kanerva hack.  I've always loved how that top fits me so I thought I'd try making it into a dress with an invisible zip at the back. 

It is a simple shape letting the fabric do all the talking. I would have liked the top to have been slightly snugger but the slightly loser fit in the bodice has it's comfort advantages.

I love the slight A shape to the skirt and the curved hem.  I hemmed it twice worrying the first time that the curve looked odd, but realised after unpicking it that a straight hem wouldn't have allowed the dress to hang right so redid it.

I am such a fan of the higher scoop neck and long sleeve look.  Because the fabric is stretchy and quite thick, the neck is simply turned over and stitched. In order to make sure the neck sit nice and flat I put in some clear elastic...I may have pulled that just a little tight, but hopefully it's not too noticeable.  I particularly like how well I matched the sides and the back zip. Oh of course it's not perfect, but the waistband matches up and the stripes are pretty good. 

All in all, I loved wearing this dress, it felt fun and different and can't wait to pull it out again for a wedding in a few weeks.  Big kisses to all the frocktails gals and to those who would have loved to have been there but couldn't. Til next time xx