Crinkled Double Viscose Myosotis Dress

Today I'm sharing with you a dress which shot straight to the top of my sewing queue and then straight to the top of my blogging queue too. It is the new Myosotis Dress from Deer & Doe. I (along with many other people by the look of my Instagram!) fell immediately in love with this design, in particular view A and it's effortless breezy boho style. I haven't been 100% sold on the ruffle trend that has hit the high street this season but for me this is the perfect amount and placement of ruffle. I've got a Kew Dress cut out and waiting which I'm pretty excited about but have been hunting for the perfect 'right for any occasion' summer dress pattern that I could wear day in, day out. Despite being tempted by both the Papercut Sway and Adrift Dresses I knew when I saw the Myosotis release that it ticked all the boxes.

Although I haven't yet tried a Deer & Doe paper pattern and this beauty was worth pushing the boat out for I just couldn't wait and ordered the PDF the day after release. It is actually the very first Deer & Doe pattern I've made and I was really impressed with their PDF. I almost printed it at a copy shop as the large fabric requirements led me to believe there would be a huge number of pages but it is just 29 for View A & B and it you only want View B without the ruffles there is a separate file of 23 pages. If you're printing at the copy shop and just want view B you just need to print the first page. I love this thoughtful attention to user friendliness and I didn't feel like I was wasting much paper as with some companies. There is a detailed separate file on printing and assembling your PDF and I like that it comes with a layers option so you can print just the size(s) you need if you like. Part of the surrounding pages are printed in the borders of each sheet which gives you the option to stick your sheets together overlapping the edges of the pages rather than standard trim the stick method. You just have to draw in the ends of the lines where they don't print right to the very edge of the page.

I didn't intend to make a white one just like the Deer & Doe sample and was in fact looking for a viscose print but then I stumbled across the perfect fabric on Maggie's market stall in Lewisham. She sells bolt ends from high street stores at bargain prices. A tick in the sustainability box for using up excess yardage from the fashion industry which would otherwise go to waste! This double layer crinkle viscose was just £2.50 per metre. I bought 3 metres and surprisingly have nearly 3/4 of a metre left. This pattern looks like a fabric eater according to the envelope but I know a few of you will be relieved to hear it doesn't have to be with some careful pattern piece placement! I've got 2m of 127cm wide rayon that I really want to use for a this dress and in particular this ruffled view which uses more fabric so didn't think I'd have enough. But I've laid out the pattern pieces and realised I can just about squeeze it out! Woohoo! I'm cutting the size 38 so if you're making a larger size you might need more, although a 150cm wide fabric gives you a bit more to play with. That is for the size 38, larger sizes probably will need a bit more, especially in the narrower width.

This fabric is absolutely ideal for the design. You want breezy, lightweight fabrics with beautiful drape and movement. This is actually surprisingly weighty for a viscose because of the double layer and is the heaviest I'd use for this style as you don't want anything that will be too bulky when gathered up. There's a lot of gathering going on in this design and gathering is really not my favourite sewing thing to do but it proves how much I love the design that I am prepared to go through it all again! The gathering probably took quite a large proportion of the construction time, I had to excursive a lot of patience painstakingly ensuring that the gathers were evenly spread. I just used the old fashioned technique of two rows of basting length stitches on the machine which you then pull up. I might try the zig-zagging over dental floss trick next time to see if it works out quicker. I've never seen the point of investing in a gathering foot when its not something I do very often.

The real beauty of this fabric is that despite being near enough white and super airy the double layer means it is opaque even in direct sunlight! Its very similar to double gauze in the way it it put together but has even better swish in the movement. Two layers of the crinkled viscose (which is a bit like a slightly dense cheesecloth) are caught together every half inch or so by a little stitch. This grid of stitches does show slightly when you press the fabric really flat but disappears when it softens up again. The fabric made for a slightly challenging sewing experience as the crinkle kind of gives it some stretch as it moves through the machine and flattens out and one layer also shifts slightly against the other. Nothing that had a detrimental effect on the finished dress though!

I haven't yet needed to wash the dress (as its pretty much fresh off the machine!) and I'm a bit concerned that the crinkled nature might prove problematic when I do. When I pre-washed it it really wrinkled up and the width of the fabric reduced by almost half! This presses out again with a bit of effort and the dress feels pretty oversized so I don't think a bit of shrinkage width ways will necessarily be a bad thing, but I think its going to be tricky to get it looking good again along all those ruffled seams and hard to press areas. I hope not as I want to wear it all the time but lets be honest.. that white is going to need some regular washing! I'l report back.

After all the fairly quick and satisfying projects I've been sewing recently to enable me to get squeeze some sewing in around a pretty hectic spell at work this felt like quite the lengthy sew. I tackled it over the bank holiday weekend and it took the majority of it. It was enjoyable to get my teeth stuck into something a bit more meaty again but I did wonder if it would ever end at one point! The instructions are good but don't hold your hand so you need a bit of sewing under your belt to get good results with this. The collar is the trickiest part and does require some skill and the ability to be accurate with your seam allowances around tight corners. I found that aspect particularly difficult as the double layer of fabric was quite bulky for such a delicate detail. It would have been much easier in a crisp lawn! I trimmed as much bulk away as I could but but didn't want to go too far as it makes it difficult to tuck the seam allowances away inside neatly.

Next time I might try my favoured Four Square Walls method for the collar. Whilst I liked that when you topstitched around the collar you were securing down the right side facing you rather than trying to secure the side you couldn't see with your stitching I found it really difficult to get a clean finish where the point of the collar met the facing at the front. I did my best but it looks bulky and is definitely not the best collar I've sewn.

I deliberated over buttons for quite some time as I had a few options in my stash which were possibilities. I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with these although I like keeping it clean and simple. I might keep my eyes peeled for some little vintage beauties. I'll let you in to a secret and say that I didn't actually open up my buttonholes and make them functional! As the dress is so oversized it easily slips on over the head without opening so I just sewed the buttons on on top of the holes through both layers. If any of you eagle eyed readers can detect a slight green tinge around the buttonholes and darts its because I'm having real trouble getting the chalk from my pencil out of the fabric! Fingers crossed it will fade with a bit of wear and the first wash!

The double layer of fabric made a hem quite bulky when I wanted to keep it soft like the rest of the dress so I hemmed both my cuffs and skirt by overlocking the raw edge (trimming off some of the length which was to be used in the hem) and then turning that up once and stitching. It still has quite a bit of body but is a finer finish. I used a size 80 microtex needle in my machine and opted to finish nearly all the raw edges on my overlocker before construction as the fabric frayed quite badly.

There is a lot to like about this design and I feel so happy in it. I love that there are side seam pockets concealed within the folds of that swishy skirt and the length and width of the sleeve feels great. I love a big cuff but like that these aren't full length which works in combination with the fairly short skirt to balance the overall volume of the style. I'm used to a more fitted waist than this and don't tend to wear much in a oversized style so this has taken a bit of getting used to. I actually felt too overwhelmed in this weighty viscose when I finished it and went back in to add waist ties. I sewed two long skinny tubes, turned them right side out and inserted them into the side seams just above the waistline. Being able to pull the waist in at the back with these makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the silhouette and has made the world of difference. I think in a lighter fabric I wouldn't necessarily need them as it would hang on the body differently but I am considering sizing down next time anyway for a neater fit on the shoulder.

All in all a huge summer sewing success and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a long hot summer so I can make the most of this. I think for the next while every viscose print I fall in love with will instantly be made into a Myosotis in my head! I can't wait to make another.