Did you know that the collective noun for swans in flight is a wedge of swans? I absolutely love learning funny/interesting collective nouns like a parliament of owls and a cauldron of bats. Do you have any favourites? I love silly facts like that and I even think that the folds of the Kielo dress mirror the swan wedge shape! Am I thinking about this too closely? Probably!
Anyway, as soon as Minerva Crafts offered to let me test this Lady McElroy Stretch Viscose I knew I wanted to make it into a Kielo dress. I am hoping that it can transition through the seasons quite nicely – I was tempted to make the sleeved version but I want to be able to wear this in summer so I decided to make it sleeveless and wear it with cardigans/jackets in the spring.
I love the Kielo shape but I am not much of a maxi dress person so I do tend to shorten them, which you will know if you remember this version or this version. This time I went even shorter and folded the pattern up by 18 inches to take it from maxi length to just above the knee. Beware! It’s a good job I wanted a shortened version as the recommended fabric layout supplied in the pattern has you rotating the back pieces upside down to fit next to the front piece – no good if you have a directional print like this one!
This fabric is so beautiful but I only have a few tiny pieces left. I am hoping there will be enough of those scraps to use as facings for my York Sewing Bee project next week! Next Saturday ten of us will be gathering to sew the Tilly and the Buttons Arielle Skirt in one day! It’s going to be so much fun, there are some awesome judges and Janet from the GBSB is going to be there! I am super excited and whilst I don’t expect to win with my entry, I am excited to shine a light on sustainable crafting! I plan to only use scraps from old projects, charity shop buttons and recycled thread, I think the only thing that will be single-use will be the interfacing! Wish me luck!
Anyway, I absolutely love this dress, the Kielo is one of my favourite patterns and think it looks great in this fabric which was beautifully easy to work with and (unlike some viscoses) doesn’t want to crease! Hallelujah! If you want more details on this beautiful fabric or the links to the supplies used, I wrote more about it over here on the Minerva Crafts Blog.
Disclaimer: ⭐️Fabric was provided free of charge by Minerva Crafts, as part of their Product Reviewer programme. All opinions are totally my own, and I wouldn’t recommend something I didn’t like!
Details:
Pattern: Named Clothing Kielo Wrap Dress
Fabric: Lady McElroy Swans Stretch Viscose
My Measurements:
Bust 36″
Waist 32″
Hips 44″
Anything Sustainable about this one?
Not really – sorry planet earth! I did try and make it really well – I bound the neck and armholes instead of just turning and topstitching so hopefully it will last a lot more than 30 wears!
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