Wednesday 10 December 2014

Colour-blocked Françoise dress

I mentioned in my last post that I'd been trying to stick to my own sewing plan instead of getting distracted by challenges and sewalongs, well here I am again failing to do that and jumping on the sewing bandwagon of a shiny new pattern! Here's my Tilly & The Buttons Françoise dress...


I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't instantly convinced that Françoise would be for me when Tilly released it - I generally prefer fit and flare styles and I'm never really sure whether shift dresses particularly suit me and my pear-shaped frame. But then I saw versions start to pop up around the blogosphere and I realised that the French darts gave the dress a flattering shape around the waist that would probably work for me, and it's always good to step out of your comfort zone every now and then (and, let's face it, Tilly's contest was also quite a good incentive!) so I decided to give it a go. Spoiler alert: I'm really glad I did!

In terms of size, I used a size 5 for the bust and waist, and graded out to a 6 at the hips. I also added quite a bit of length - about 1.5 inches in the bodice section (a standard adjustment for me) and 4 inches in the skirt because I don't feel massively comfortable in mini dresses and prefer skirts to hit nearer to knee length.


There's also the obvious slight change I made of adding the colour-blocked sections at the hem and cuffs. For the skirt hem, I just decided how big I wanted the contrast section to be (4 inches plus the hem allowance in case you're wondering) and marked that onto my pattern piece, cut the main colour at this length and used the bottom section of the pattern piece to draw out the piece for the contrast hem (with seam allowances added to both the main and contrast colour sections).

For the cuffs, I drafted pieces that extended from the sleeve, cut 2 for each sleeve which I then joined together along the bottom edge to form the bottom of the cuff, before joining the cuffs on to the sleeve. I'm probably not doing a very good job of explaining that am I? It's essentially the same method that I was familiar with from making my Cami dress, which you can see in a tutorial here, but omitting the extra opening on the cuff. Hopefully that makes more sense now, if not let me know!


In terms of fabric, as one of Tilly's suggestions was double knit, I decided to use two different colours (navy and turquoise) of Romanit jersey (which I'm pretty sure is also known as ponte) from myfabrics. I think it was a good choice to make, as it's given me a dress that's super comfy and nice and cosy for this time of year, and there's the added bonus that you might have noticed in the photo above that I didn't need to put the zip in because it pulls on easily as it is - never a bad thing! And that helped to make this a pretty speedy dress to put together.


The fabric feels nice to wear and was generally OK to sew with, but it doesn't press that well so it did cause a couple of problems in some areas, mainly in the collar. I originally intended to swap the collar for a Peter Pan one (just because I love Peter Pan collars), but the fact that the fabric didn't press well meant that it just came out looking a mess. Thankfully the pointed collar from the pattern turned out much nicer!

All the layers of fabric that I ended up with around the neckline after adding the collar and facings were also quite bulky and the facing didn't want to turn in and lie flat even after understitching - I should possibly have used a thinner fabric for the facing really but I didn't have anything suitable. Steaming solved some of the problem, and after I'd done that, I secured the facing in place by stitching in the ditch down the sleeve and shoulder seams for a centimetre or two under the collar. Possibly not technically the right solution, but it worked so it's fine by me.


Overall, Françoise is a really great little dress. As you'd expect from Tilly's patterns, the instructions seem really clear and thorough (I say seem, because I mainly used the photos to see what I should be doing and just skim read the instructions), so it would be a good option for beginners but is still a fun pattern if you've got a bit more experience. I'm really pleased I chose to make it in a knit, because I feel like it looks quite smart but at the same time it's SO comfy. Being honest, it's never going to completely cure me of my love for fitted bodies and twirly skirts, but I can definitely see myself making more versions of the Françoise in the future. I'm on the lookout for a pretty patterned double knit for my next version - has anyone seen any? Although that will have to wait until after I've finished quite a few secret projects - is anyone else up to their elbows in making Christmas presents at the moment or it is just me?!

16 comments:

  1. This looks great Ruth - the fit is spot on, and I love the colour blocking. Sometimes it's good to push yourself out of your comfort zone slightly, and this one definitely paid off! I'm not doing homemade Christmas presents this year - I did them last year and just don't have any ideas/time! I've ended up (unplanned) buying jumpers for my mum, my dad and my sister! I'd quite like to make something for my boyfriend's mum, but I haven't yet figured out what! I hope you manage to get all yours done!

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    1. Thank you Kelly! Yep, I'm really glad I went a little bit outside of my comfort zone with this one - it'll definitely be worn a lot. Sure all the jumpers will go down well in your family! I'm having the problem of having too many ideas of things to make for people and not quite enough time - it'll all get finished somehow or another though!

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  2. This is the best Francoise dress I've seen so far and they are everywhere at the moment. Think you stand a good chance in her competition. I personally love the shape of this dress but perversly the competion has put me off! I may buy the pattern in the new year when the hype has died down!

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    1. Aww, thanks Louise - very nice of you to say so! I know what you mean about the hype putting you off making it, I often do the same thing myself (probably the main reason I still haven't read any of the Harry Potter books!), but this time it just seemed to encourage me!

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  3. I had a little chuckle after reading about your unsuccessful attempt to resist the lure of either a sewalong, contest, or challenge. They reel us in, don't they, LOL? In this case, I'm really glad that the Francoise dress hooked you, because your version is spectacular! I'm the same as you...give me a fit and flare and I'm happy. But! Everytime I see Tilly's latest being sewn up, I kind of drool and get some serious want. I may just have to jump on this bandwagon myself!

    Don't really know anything of the contest, but your make is fabulous, and I hope you are rewarded for it Ruth!

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    1. Haha, thanks Sue! I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets sucked in by sewalongs etc.! In this case, I'd definitely recommend jumping on the bandwagon because it's a really lovely dress.

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  4. I was exactly like you, not sure but sucked in, I might just finish in time but I am liking the result. I've gone for linen and have had to line it so IRS taken extra time. Tilly's instructions are really clear. Love your version.

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    1. Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one who got sucked in! Hope you manage to get yours finished in time for the contest - a linen version sounds lovely!

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  5. Can I ask how tall you are? I also need to lengthen the bodice but since the back waist measurements are not mentioned in the pattern, I'm not sure how much I need to add!

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    1. Yes, of course you can! I'm about 5 ft 9", and proportionally my torso is longer than my legs. I generally have to add 1-2 inches to the bodice sections of patterns so I just went in the middle at 1.5 inches and did a quick toile to check the fit before I cut into my fabric - thankfully it worked nicely! Hope that helps!

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    2. Thank you :) I'm 180 cm (= 5ft 11'') and I have the same problem. Do you add only to the waist or also above the armpits? I just did a quick toile myself and I think I might have to add to the zone above the armpits as well as the darts point a little too high. It's the first dress I'm sewing in cotton, I usually prefer stretchy dresses without darts! ;)

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    3. I just added length between the bust and waist - thankfully the darts were in the right place for me. I know what you mean about stretchy dresses - they're much more forgiving when it comes to fitting!

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  6. Thanks for your replies and by the way: I love the color blocks in your dress. You look great in it! :)

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    1. You're welcome, happy to try to help - hope you get it sorted! And thank you! :)

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