I was extremely lucky to be asked to test the very first pattern by Selkie Patterns – the London. The London can be made as a top, skirt or dress. I had this gorgeous fabric in my stash and as soon as I realised there was enough to make the dress version I knew it was meant to be!
The beautiful details of this dress are hidden by the busy print I’ve chosen slightly, the bodice has four sweet little pleats that can be sewn as darts if you wish, the skirt has two box pleats in the front and back as well as the gorgeous neckline detail and those divine flutter sleeves! This pattern is jam packed with fun stuff that is a pleasure to sew for anyone who likes little details and interesting design elements.
This wasn’t a quick sew, I made sure I took my time and really got a nice fit and a nice finish on those little details. I really wanted to make a dress I would want to wear for years as I love the fabric so much. I bought the fabric from a charity shop about 10 years ago and relegated it to the bottom of my stash as I thought the crepe texture made it feel like polyester/crimplene. I was thrilled when I got it out of my stash recently thought ‘hang on a minute’, I have much more fabric knowledge now than I did 10 years ago and I was thrilled to suspect it was wool crepe! I cut off a small swatch and burnt it to test, and true enough there are no plastic fibres in sight – definitely wool from the smell of burning hair, no melting – just burnt to ash! Yessss!
I really love the dress that I have made and have worn it several times already – both without tights on warm days and with tights and boots on chillier days. I think it is a winner for all seasons. In these pictures I was on a beautiful weekend away to the gorgeous city of Oxford. I had never been before and absolutely loved visiting all the famous literary spots I could find! I visited the Tolkein exhibition at the Bodleian Library and sought out lots of His Dark Materials/Harry Potter locations so I was truly in my element! The weather was glorious, it truly felt like the last weekend of summer and I really felt like it was the perfect way to celebrate my 30th birthday!
As well as having designed this lovely pattern, the girls at Selkie have also designed some beautiful fabrics which you can also get through their kickstarter campaign. What I absolutely love about Selkie (other than the magical name!) are the sustainable ethics that are the foundations of the company. The pattern instructions recommend you save your scraps for future use, use natural fibres for sustainability, be economical with your fabric and mend and alter your clothes as needed. When the Selkie website launches I believe they are planning on stocking some sustainable textiles and haberdashery, such as recycled thread etc! I think that Selkie patterns are going to be a smashing success and I can’t wait to see what they are going to come out with next!
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