Friday 20 November 2015

Mortmain + Stripes

You know those times when fabric is such a bargain that you just HAVE to buy it? This dress is entirely down to one of those occasions.

I'd seen this fabric online ages ago - I really liked it, but it didn't fit in with my plans at the time and it wasn't the cheapest in the world so, after a bit of dithering, I decided to be good and leave it behind. Fast-forward several months, and I saw a link to a fabric sale where it was reduced to half price. I was sold, and instantly snapped up enough for a dress.


I was very tempted to make yet another Emery, but the fabric kept telling me that it would prefer to become a Gather Mortmain dress instead. As you can see, in the end I had to agree because I thought that it would be good to have the option of playing with the stripe direction on the waistband.

It had also been a while since I made a Mortmain (previous versions here and here) and, much though I love the Emery, it's also always nice to have a little bit of variety.


So the fabric...we already know it was a bargain, but what else do I have to say about it? I picked it up from Patch Fabrics; they don't seem to have this exact one anymore but they do have the green colourway. It's a peppered cotton, the stripes are woven and there's a slightly irridescent effect from the different coloured warp and weft threads, which you can maybe see a bit better in this close-up...


Excuse the slightly crumpled look (this was mid-sewing) and let's focus instead on the fabric -isn't it lovely? And I hope you'll excuse me if I pat myself on the back for that stripe matching. I love striped and check fabric, but I always hate it slightly when I'm cutting it out and giving myself a headache trying to get the pattern matching right. The extra effort is always worth it in the end though!

Thinking about pattern matching in sewing has made me really critical of print placement and matching in RTW clothing. I don't buy much RTW anymore (mainly because it's more fun to sew my own), but whenever I am in shops I find myself picking things to pieces! Does anyone else do the same?


Anyway, back to the dress...I'm pretty sure that it does fit me through the back in spite of what it looks like in the photo above. I'm going to blame those extra wrinkles on moving about pretending to be climbing the rocks and on the fact that, while it is lovely, the fabric does crease really easily.


Once I'd got past the hurdle of cutting it all out, the dress was a nice and simple sewing project. In addition to the fitting changes I'd made before (adding an inch to the bodice), for this version I also added two inches to the skirt. Although my first two Mortmains are an OK length, I do find that they've ended up slightly shorter than my other dresses. It's a small difference, but it's one that I do notice so I decided to do something about it.

I also omitted the sleeve cuffs for this version. This may at least partially have been to avoid more stripe matching! I just did a simple hem on the sleeves instead, but added a couple of inches to them first so that I didn't lose any length.


I'm pretty happy with this dress. I don't think I love it as much as some others, but I do like it and I can see it being worn regularly. I definitely prefer it when I'm wearing it with a cardigan like this to pick out one of the colours - I think it helps the fabric come to life a bit more. And I love it with this cute little bow brooch I found in a charity shop recently! From the 50% off fabric and charity shop jewellery, can anyone tell that I love a bargain?!

10 comments:

  1. The pattern match of joy. Love it, want it.

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  2. Never drink wine on a Friday whilst reading blogs. Have just order 3 metres of the green and it is all your fault. Will hide in stash! Not sure what'll make, maybe Colette hazel? I've read that the fit is a bit trying. Can't stretch to mortmain pattern too.

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    1. Haha, sorry to be a bad influence! I hope you like the fabric as much as I do. I haven't made the Colette Hazel yet, but I can imagine it might look pretty in the stripes!

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  3. Well done on the pattern matching, much better than RTW they don't even try do they? Beautiful dress, looks lovely with the cardi too.

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    1. No, often they really don't try at all - I never used to notice it, but now it seems so obvious!

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  4. I love everything about this dress! The fabric, the fact that it was a bargain and the a-maz-ing stripe matching. It's fab! And, yes, I notice if something in a shop has shoddy matching too.

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    1. Thank you! I never particularly enjoy pattern matching when I'm in the middle of it, but I'm always glad I put the effort in once it's done!

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  5. Very nice, I love those colours. I've been thinking about getting this pattern, waiting for it to come back in stock down under!

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  6. Another really lovely dress, Ruth. I like that you've played with the stripes for the waistband. Massive high five for the pattern matching too!

    I've become so critical of rtw items as well. I've always been bad for feeling fabrics but now I'm turning things inside out to see how they're constructed, hehe.

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    1. Thank you Jo! I was really pleased with this pattern matching - often I feel like I end up with it just-about-but-not-quite right, so it was good to nail it for once!
      And I know what you mean about looking inside clothes - my friends all thought I was crazy when we were in a shop and I got excited about a dress having French seams!

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