Woolen La Sylphide

Just in the nick of time! I had been thinking about what to make ever since the challenges were posted, but I’ve had such a serious case of no-sew that I only got around to starting this dress yesterday afternoon and photographed it an hour ago. Lucky for me, it turned out SO WELL I think I’ve got my sew-jo back.

The pattern is, of course, La Sylphide from Papercut Patterns, one of my all-time favourite patterns ever. And, actually, Papercut Patterns is one of my all-time favourite pattern companies too – if you haven’t sewn with them before I HIGHLY recommend it, and what better time than for the “New To Me” challenge!

 

This is my fifth time sewing the pattern but only my second time on the dress – I’ve also made two blouses (here and here) and one skirt. But the dress – oh the dress, it’s basically my ideal pattern – fit and flare with a bow, and button down front. And it’s not hard at all, despite what it may look like. Like the last few times I made it, I narrowed the bow as well so it’s just over half the width of the original pattern – mainly because I couldn’t fit the full width on my yardage, and I quite like it this way. The tie is also lengthened but I’m not sure how much sorry – I just cut the whole width of the fabric, tried it on after stitching it to the neck, and shortened to where it looked right.

The fabric is an extremely thin wool (not sure if it’s blended with anything) – so thin that I thought I would have to wear a slip to avoid indecency, but it’s surprisingly opaque on the body. It has a slight twill weave and isn’t too scratchy on the body, and is SO warm. My mind boggles a bit, actually, about how it’s so substantial yet so thin. The buttons are little clear flowers I bought from another designers sale.

The only problem I have with it is the sleeves – usually I use my own sleeve block but this time I used the sleeve that came with the pattern, which is too small around my generous upper arms. It’s not toooo bad but it does pull the bodice fabric up and out, so the darts hit too high and leads to a bit of bunching. To be honest, I’m not phased at all, I love this dress!

Hope you like it too! You can find more information and photos on my blog, www.tworandomwordsblog.com