SEWN: STOCKHOLM ANNIE

I swear this doesn't really look like a nightgown IRL. Not selling it? It's true!

I haven't worn a maxi skirt or dress in years and never really felt they were me. I find many maxi dresses swamp me in the most unflattering way. And maxi skirts are a trip hazard. Truly they are.

But then Tessuti released their Annie Dress pattern and rather than meh (my normal response to maxi anything) I thought hells yeah, bring that to the top of the queue. I knew straight away what fabric I would use. This fabulous linen (blend?) Funkis Stockholm Cityscape fabric I picked up recently from Pitt Trading. Funkis as in the clog people. The fabric was designed by Josefine Brodd and used in their SS2014 for a short-sleeved shift dress.

I think this fabric may be a blend as it has some sheeny fibres I don't normally associate with a straight linen, but it can take ironing on a high heat and creases like crazy (hello linen) so maybe not.

I really love the cutaway armholes, in fact it may have been what swayed me to the design. But let's be clear. I tried this on with every bra in my arsenal and there is no way that a bra with straps can be worn. Not even those ones that have a clip at the back to create a "racer back". From the front you could always see the straps where the dress bodice meets the dress straps and at the back the racer/cross over straps were certainly not compatible. In fact with any bra I tried it also made the front dress bodice sit weirdly and unattractively.

So what am I wearing? Chicken fillets, my friends, chicken fillets. These types of stick on bra cup thingies are actually available fairly widely and inexpensively. I have had mine for an age and they are still going strong. I'm sure you could try a traditional strapless bra, but I for one can't keep them up and I hate readjusting all day.

I also really like the maxi midi length. It's not floor grazing and therefore more practical in my mind, but you can still get away without shaving your legs. Win!

My bust measurement put me between the XXS and XS. I decided to toile a size XXS, but it just seemed a little snug across the bust and back. I let out the seams a little but it still didn't look right. So this is an XS. I did toile the bodice again, but it's super hard to work out how the bodice will sit without adding the weight of the skirt and quite frankly that's no longer a toile - it's a wearable muslin and huge fabric suck.

So after completely lining the bodice and attaching the skirt I realised that this size is a little gapey around the armscye. I ended up sewing a dart starting at 1cm in from the side seam line and finished the point at the attachment point of skirt. It's a dirty fix, but it works and no one sees the insides right? That means I actually removed 4cm from the bust. Maybe the XXS was the right size. Sigh...


It's another woohoo make for me! And thank goodness I made sandals as they are the only shoes in my wordrobe that work with this very different silhouette for me.

Right, I'm going to rip off these bra cups, stick on my ridiculously awesome me-made bikini and hit the pool. And I'll be completely me-made. Eep!!