Rumor has it that it’s French Macaron Day. I have no idea who decides when “days” are for various things, but I’ve been meaning to post this dress for a while anyways so today is as good a day as any.
This is the Seamwork (formerly Colette) Myrtle dress. The fabric is Spoonflower’s Performance Piqué printed with the Lichtenstein Macarons by robinskarbek. This was a winner for one of the Spoonflower design contests and I knew as soon as I saw it that I had to have a dress out of it. It’s probably one of my favorite prints ever. It was printed as a Sprout order, so the pattern was printed directly on the fabric, although I did get a digital copy of the pattern as well.
First let’s talk briefly about the fabric. This is my second use of Spoonflower’s Performance Piqué and I really like this fabric. It’s light. It’s comfortable. It’s wrinkle resistant. The colors print really vibrantly and wash really well on this fabric. I’ve washed this one many times and it’s still just a bright. I believe it may be moisture wicking but not sure. Either way, it’s got a bit of stretch due to the weave (not due to spandex) and it’s great for summer. I’ll definitely continue using this substrate from Spoonflower.
Now let’s discuss the pattern. I tried to find a link to the actual pattern, but it doesn’t seem to be available any more (I made this years ago). I’m not sure why they would discontinue the pattern. It’s not a bad pattern and actually looks quite cute. I’ve gotten quite a bit of wear out of this dress.
Things I like:
- It goes together really easily.
- Pockets! Yes, it has inseam pockets.
- The cowl neck. I like that it’s just double fabric on the front so you don’t end up with the flap that you get with some cowl necks.
- The wide shoulders. I find them very flattering.
Things I don’t like:
- The neck back. If I had made a muslin, I could have fixed this. This was one of the issues with Sprout — making a muslin was hard since the pattern was printed on the fabric. But the back of the neck is a bit too wide for me. I usually have to take a little bit out at the top of most of my commercial patterns. I’ll probably do a little dart at some point since the neckline got further stretched when I rolled over the hem.
- The length. It’s a bit on the short side to wear to work unless I wear leggings with it. But given the cowl neck is a bit much for cleavage, this one never really gets worn to work anyways.
- The back skirt seam. I’m not sure why they put a seam down the back. I think because in the woven version you might add a zipper. But given this was printed for knits, it seemed a waste and sad that the pattern doesn’t match up. But I think that’s a Sprout issue, not a pattern issue.
- The top length. Not a huge issue, but I wish I had just a bit more length in the top for blousing over so I could move the elastic waist down a bit. That being said, it looks fine like this and the elastic does sit at my natural waist.
I hemmed it using a double needle which was fine, but not great. I don’t really like using double needles and it’s part of the reason that I got a coverstitch machine.
But there we go. At some point I’ll print this fabric again and make another dress, but for now, I’m enjoying this one.
Note: when styling photos with real food, watch out for hungry assistants.
