Purple Floral Tiered Dress
How’s your summer going? Is it still hot where you live?
It’s been a very hot summer for the part of Canada I live in. We had many record breaking temperatures, including a week of heat wave! (The highest of 35+ for a week everyday is kind of extreme for where I live.)
The sun stays long during the summer here, and it’s dry. So when the heat goes up, it easily causes wild fires. It’s been pretty bad this year as well.
As some of you already know, I don’t do well in a hot weather, so this summer has been tough. But it’s finally getting more manageable. From here on, it’ll get a lot more like fall really fast.
I’m going to do a “fall sewing plan” blog soon just like I did for spring/summer. But before that, I made a summery dress!
It’s been looong time since I last made a dress. I think I made a simple T-shirt dress in winter of 2019 (not blogged.) The last blog article about a dress was posted on August 21, 2019 about this Dragon shirt dress.
Dresses are my favourite thing to make and wear, so it’s been unbelievably long!
The first dress I’ve sewn nearly in two years is the purple floral dress that I listed on my Spring/Summer sewing plan.
The fabric is purple cotton lawn with colourful little flower print. Cotton lawn is lightweight, pretty opaque, breathable, and easy to sew. One of my favourite type of fabric!
Fabric: Cotton lawn from Blackbird Fabrics
Pattern: C “Tiered dress” from a Japanese sewing book “Joy of Sewing” by Moipon
In my sewing plan that I posted earlier, I was considering using Indigo Dress by Tilly and the Buttons. But I ended up trying a new pattern and I’m very glad that I did!
It’s been a long time since I last used any Japanese sewing pattern. Japanese sewing books/patterns are typically not very size inclusive, and I was a bit concerned about the fitting.
This book doesn’t provide a wide range of sizes either, but I was able to find the one that fits for me. Aside from the limited size range, this pattern was drafted very nicely!
This dress pattern’s bodice design is pretty similar to Indigo by Tilly and the Buttons. I’ve used Indigo pattern to make my yellow top recently. Although it fits fine overall, there are some small parts that didn’t feel quite right. (For example, with enough ease, it’s still uncomfortable to move around my arms, and shoulders didn’t sit nicely even after the forward shoulder adjustment, etc.)
I think Tilly’s patterns are drafted more for pear shaped bodies. It’s not that they aren’t drafted nicely, because I’m sure they are. I love their designs, clear instructions with photos, and I love their branding too. But for an apple shaped body like mine, it’s a bit tricky to get the fit right. In other words, if you’re a pear shaped person, I’d highly recommend trying Tilly’s patterns!
Moipon, who is the author of the “Joy of Sewing”, says she’s more of an apple shaped. She’s much taller and thinner than me, so she and I have very different sizes. And I’m not sure if her patterns are drafted towards certain body shapes or not, but this Tiered Dress bodice pattern really worked nicely for me!
The changes I made:
raised up the neck opening (made the neck opening smaller)
lengthened the bodice
adjusted the lengths of the skirt parts
I don’t really like deep cut necklines so I raised it up a bit.
With the bodice lengthening, for my height (150cm), it probably worked better if I left it shorter like the original length in the pattern. However, my body has some thickness, so I didn’t want the gathered skirt to add more volume right under the bust. I had to find a better balance between the length and the clean-ness from the side, so I ended up lengthening the bodice and changed the ratio of the skirt parts.
The bodice has bust darts; it’s really hard to see in the photo but the placement of the darts was perfect for me!
I made the first tier shorter than the second, and made the third tier the longest. I’m not sure if this helped with the overall balance, but I like the look of it!
The total length of the skirt is longer than the suggested length as well.
If you want to make your upper body look short and compact, both of my changes (the smaller neck opening and lengthening the bodice) aren’t really the way to go.
But for those who want the clean look from the side, I think the lengthening the bodice is pretty helpful!
I also need to remember though—trying to make everything look smaller and/or slimmer shouldn’t be everything when it comes to sewing and dressing.
Because, look at this dress! The big gathered skirt is so cute and makes me happy when I put it on. It makes me want to twirl in it like a little girl. That joy is more important than worrying about what makes me look slimmer. This dress reminded me of how much I needed a fun dress like this in my closet.
For all my life, since I was very young, I’ve struggled with being able to feel comfortable and confident with my body size and shape. But I’ve been really trying to change my perspective lately.
It’s been a year and a half since I started daily exercise. I had felt so unable, had no stamina before but I was somehow able to stick with my exercise routine for this long without injuring myself. I haven’t been sick even during the pandemic. That’s something I should be proud for and be thankful for. And it’s something I should be kinder to my own body for.
I intend to continue doing exercises for my physical and mental health. Meanwhile, I’d like to start dressing myself in the clothes that makes me happy, and worry less about my figure. I want to sew the clothes that fit my body properly.
Being able to sew my own clothes is very freeing for me for that reason. I don’t have to fit my body into ready-to-wear clothes but instead, I can make things that are my own size and made just for me.
That’s my “joy of sewing”.
Oh and one more thing about this dress. This is actually my favourite feature of the dress!
The back neckline is V shaped as well as the front. Isn’t it pretty?
The back shoulder also has darts which makes it sit really nicely.
Moipon’s patterns are so well-tailored, it was very impressive!
Although it’s summery, I think this dress could look pretty cute with a light jacket and short boots in fall too!
A light jacket is definitely on my fall sewing list.
Aug 19, 2021
