SEWN: THE SIESTA DRESS

Ahhh siestas. Long languid summer afternoons, salty sea breezes gently caressing the skin. Cool comfortable, crisp and flowy dresses, and light beach cover ups. This dress fits the bill beautifully.

Have you ever worked with patterns that just come together? You know what I mean. Each piece aligns perfectly with the next. There are no messy instructions and indecipherable diagrams. The garment just appears before your eyes seamlessly... so to say.

My name is Jillian and I am having a little love affair with Japanese patterns.

I just love their simple lines, pattern pieces that are architecturally perfect, and instructions that just cut to the chase and get you on with things smoothly and easily.

I love how Japanese patterns have you prepare the fiddly bits first. Think drawstrings, preparing bias bindings.

It means when you are constructing the garment you can just get on with things. I find most other pattern companies deal with those steps in the middle of construction. That always seem to be the stage where I lose interest and flow. You are seeing this garment come together and then you have to stop, put it down and go prepare those drawstrings.

Of course you could always just do those steps first anyway and ignore the instructions, but I tend to slavishly follow them and this genius has escaped me till now.

My first foray into Japanese patterns was my Dandelion Drift top, now on high rotation in my wardrobe. My inspiration for this dress was Gabrielle's Starry, Starry Gabby. My love for that dress knows no bounds. I dove into my pattern stash to see if anything might fit the bill and Sweet Dress Book's Pattern V (raglan sleeve), Design O, Tunic dress with draped hem jumped right off the page.

Fabric was another story as I had something particular in mind when shopping. But of course, when you really want something specific it alludes you at every turn. Like a good little sewer I gave up and decided not to purchase a very distant second. And I'm so glad I did as a few days later this gorgeous Japanese cotton poplin named Folk Art showed up.

I love the shape. It's not as determinedly flared as Gabrielle's Gabby Dress, but that is at least partly down to the gorgeous fabric Gabrielle used for her version. I like the draped effect of this dress on me - it's flattering and a bit different.

As P said, "It's not like anything you'd buy here in the shops... and I mean that in a good way". I'm glad he added that last bit as I was a bit concerned he was thankful it couldn't be bought!

I can definitely recommend this pattern book if you're wanting to try some Japanese patterns that avoid looking totally twee or sack-like.

But for now, I'm off to celebrate P's birthday with a lunch by the beach.