Liberty Thorpe: Bow Neck Dress
Hi everyone!
I’ve shared this on Instagram recently, but I’ve been pretty occupied with caring for our senior pup, my new job, and volunteering lately that I’ve been away from social media a bit.
Our beloved pup, Momiji, is 16 years old.
She has arthritis, liver/gallbladder issue, decreased vision, and mild dementia.
She can still walk and eat on her own, and she’s not suffering, but she does need some help from us when going to washroom since she can no longer put her weight on her hind legs. She sometimes yelps for help when she’s trying to get up from her naps. Because of the dementia, she easily get stuck in front of a wall, or a corner of the room. So she needs extra care and love from us.
She had started showing some other symptoms of dementia like she wasn’t getting excited about anything that much, she wasn’t responding to us nor greet with us as much.
But somehow, she has been doing really well for the past few weeks mentally. Her body is still stiff but that she’s been more curious, responsive, and expressing affection.
It’s been like seeing her old self again and we’re just so happy to have this moment.
It’s not mentally healthy for us (the caretakers: husband and I) to be constantly be anxious and worried; so whenever my hubby can watch Momiji, I try to take some time to sew or knit to take my mind off a bit.
I haven’t been documenting my makes but I’d like to come back to blogging more regularly, hopefully soon!
I made this bow neck dress back in October 2022; I used Liberty fabric Thorpe print!
I wanted to make a simple trapeze (or shift) dress with bow-tie neck to show case the beautiful Liberty print.
I used the Ashton Top by Helen’s Closet Patterns with sleeves as a starting point, but I modified it so much that this dress doesn’t look anything like Ashton top.
Some changes I made are:
closed up the bust dart and swung it open at the hem instead to add some flare
added 5 cm more to that flare
added length to the hem
made the neck line wider
made the sleeves longer, added some volume and cuffs
For the neck bow pieces, I referenced it from a Japanese sewing blogger, moipon’s articles such as:
I adjusted the numbers to compensate my height and body figure, and changed it up a bit to fit the design I was going for. But her tutorial helped me greatly!
I’ve been enjoying wearing midi length dresses that come down to my mid calf lately. Since this dress has a trapeze style and I’d be wearing it over tights though, I made it slightly shorter than my usual.
I’ve used a Thorpe print in the different colour before, and I love this fall colour palette just as much!
The lining is a pretty light navy colour that matches the print. This colour coordination is one of my favourite things about this dress.
The covered buttons on the cuffs are also adorable.
I really like how this one turned out, I think it’s going to be fun to wear with navy tights. Dark brown tights would probably work too!
Liberty’s tana lawn fabrics are lightweight, however, by adding a lining (I used cupro lining fabric), it feels a lot more sturdy.
I often get lazy about adding a lining, but every time I do it I love the result. It looks neat and pretty inside, it feels well made and more polished.
Plus, I don’t have to look for a slip right before I go out is a bonus. Is it just me, or those things get lost in the drawers so easily?
Momiji wanting some fruit :)
I’m so happy she still has a good appetite!
Mar 19, 2023
