Jennifer Lauren Raine Dress

Usually I buy fabric with a specific project in mind, but sometimes I spy a print that's so pretty that it demands to be bought before plans have been formulated. The cotton that I've used for today's project definitely falls into the latter category.

I'd seen various online shops selling it last summer and was tempted but managed to resist it. That all changed when I saw it in the flesh in the John Lewis sale - I think the colours just come across better in real life than they do on screen. Although to be fair, the fact that it was 50% off may have also helped because I do love a bargain! The only downside was that it was January so definitely not seasonally appropriate to sew immediately.

Two and a half metres came home with me and were squirreled away in my stash to await warmer weather. Over the last couple of months I'd been pondering what to make with it whenever I saw it sitting on the shelf.

After I made my Eden jumpsuit, I had decided that this would make a nice second version of that pattern but when I went to cut it out I had this horrible vision of ending up with flowers or leaves bursting out at unfortunate places around the crotch seam! Once I'd had that thought, I couldn't get it out of my mind and it seemed like it would be difficult to avoid due to the spacing of the flowers. It's the sort of thing that most people wouldn't notice but I definitely would and it would have annoyed me.

So the jumpsuit plan was scrapped, and I went back to the drawing board. Then when I was wearing the Jennifer Lauren Raine dress that I made last year it suddenly struck me that this would be the perfect pattern for my beautiful floral stripes. The simple darted bodice with grown on sleeves and lovely full skirt are perfect for showing off a print, and the waistband would give me the opportunity to play with the stripe direction. Changing the stripes around also really shows off the nicely shaped waistband, which is good because I think it got a bit lost in the print that I used for my first Raine dress.

There's not a lot new to say about the construction of this dress that I didn't say when I talked about my first Raine dress. The only thing that I did differently this time was to lengthen the skirt a bit more - I added an extra 2 inches onto the length for the biggest size.

The Raine dress is a satisfying pattern to sew - there are some slightly trickier construction steps in comparison with what you'd usually expect from a simple looking unlined dress, but the instructions are very clear so as long as you follow them you should be fine. They give a nice finish on the inside as well, which is always pleasing.

All in all, I really enjoyed sewing this dress, it's lovely to wear and I'm glad that I finally found the right use for this cotton. It's worth taking the time to be sure that you make the perfect pattern and fabric pairing, isn't it?