Thursday 9 July 2009

12

Linen lovelies

I managed to track down some linen the other day for some more box pleat dresses. Man oh man, it's hard to find linen in nice bright colours... Anyone know of some online retailers?!


So technically this one isn't linen, it's cotton slub. I'd never even heard of that before, but it looks a lot like linen but with a slightly stiffer feel.


It's got a polkadot panel for the box pleat. I scaled down my pattern so this is the 18m/2T (rather than the 3T/4T that the other ones were) and it's a perfect fit. I feel so smug proud that I don't have to do a revision for once.


And this one is proper linen in a nice soft green. I do like the box pleat dresses, but I feel slightly aggrieved that you can't necessarily see the contrasting fabric unless she's running or doing the splits or something... So, I used the pattern as a block to make this one.


I loves it, there's no avoiding the contrasting panel and I can use a lot of my larger pieces of scrap fabrics for the inserts.


Now that I have a workable block I've got a couple more cut out that are completely different! I think this pattern is going to be fun to play around with... What do you think?

12 comments:

  1. So lovely! If the cotton slub wrinkles less than linen, I'd stick with that. But then I hate ironing.

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  2. That dress is so lovely!! I actually think I prefer it with the plain colours and the patterned pleat or middle piece. I really will have to make my Looby some ;)

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  3. I think I may need to ask you for a custom dress for Erica, I absolutely love these!

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  4. I love them, they're really simple but v pretty. They'd be good in autumn with a long sleeved top and tights underneath too.
    Linen - I know I go on about them all the time, but Abakhan's have some coloured cotton/linen mixes, and you can order samples: http://www.abakhan.co.uk/acatalog/Plain.html

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  5. Thanks guys!

    @nicky: It still wrinkles but maybe not quite so much. I actually like the wrinkled linen look, but maybe that because I hate ironing too!
    @Nic: I think I like these more than the patterned ones too! This one is with a tester too so hopefully pattern will be ready next week :)
    @Vonnie: You know I'd love to make one for Erica!
    @PickedWeasel: That's actually where I did by these from! I love Abakhan's, they're so reasonable:)

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  6. love the dresses...love the linen with block/stripes of color...can't wait to see what you come up with :) So funny that you are making Maia clothes for the hot weather you SHOULD have when you come to the US because it hasn't been warmer than 70 degrees or so here in Salem yet this "summer"...I would suggest bringing some sweaters :)

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  7. The dresses are lovely, as is the fabric. I was going to ask where it came from before I saw the comment... Let us know when they're out of testing!

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  8. I've used this ebay seller for linen before and it's good quality.
    Not sure if it's the colours you wnat, but worth a look anyhoo ...

    http://is.gd/1s7AF

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  9. These are adorable. The box pleat is great but I especially love the other!

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  10. Feedsack Fantasy9 July 2009 at 14:28

    Absolutely cute! TTFN ~ Marydon

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  11. really like both dresses. on the box pleat, is there a way to cut away some of the top fabric so that you can see a peek of the inner fabric while keeping the integrity of the box pleat? i'm envisioning a very, very narrow v opening instead of what i'd call a slit for lack of better phrasing on the outer fabric. or does glimpsing the inner fabric defeat the definition of a box pleat?

    on the block dress, i bet it would look so cute with a yoke or crewneck collar or whatever it's called made with the insert fabric. it looks terrific and fun, however, the way it is too!

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  12. Love the second dress. Really lovely. Do you ever sleep??

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