I don’t know about anyone else but I am firmly in the sewing for Autumn mindset now. I am done with summer (I dislike the heat!) and am looking forward to snuggly knitwear and tights with boots! I think this dress is the perfect transitional garment as it can be worn both with bare legs and sandals but looks equally at home with tights and boots.
This is the Named Patterns Ruska Knot Dress from the Breaking the Pattern book. I didn’t buy the book as I am not super happy with the sizing of Named Patterns at the moment (see this almost-disaster if you don’t already know why!). BUT I did happen to buy Issue 60 of Love Sewing Magazine and that has this dress in it!
I was approached by Girl Charlee UK a little while ago to ask if I would like to try out any of their fabrics and of course I jumped at the chance! They specialise in stretch fabrics and have a big selection of different types. After a little browse I knew I wanted to try some Tencel Jersey as it is a fabric I’ve wanted to try for a while. Tencel is a fabric manufactured from cellulose fibres derived from wood pulp and is made in a closed loop process which means it uses far less water than a lot of other fabrics. It is also known for it’s ability to take up dyes, thus requiring less dye when manufactured and as it is a semi-synthetic fabric it doesn’t release microplastics when washed. I was naturally interested in seeing what it was like.
I chose this blue abstract paint daubs fabric as the print really interested me. It arrived really fast and when I opened the parcel I couldn’t believe the softness, it almost feels like it has been brushed – it’s soooo soft! I even used some of the scraps leftover from my dress to make some make up remover pads as it’s so soft I would happily use it on my face!
It is also incredibly stretchy because of the 8% spandex so I think it would make great leggings and underwear. I think for the softness of these scraps I might finally dust of my knicker patterns and brave making myself some pants!
Anyway, back to the dress – it was really easy to make. I enjoyed the process and had completely forgotten how quick it is to work with jersey! I made this in three half hour sessions (seriously, does anyone else ever get more than half an hour to sew?!). There are two ‘fronts’ layered over each other so it does make it quite a warm dress – I wouldn’t make one for keeping cool in! But I liked the construction, I like the sleeve length and I like that it has a neckband and not binding – jersey binding is NOT my favourite!
The only thing that I changed from the original pattern were the ties. Because this is a printed fabric, the reverse side is white. When I finished the dress and tried it on I didn’t like that you could see both sides of the ties at the knot. I don’t think this would be a problem with yarn-dyed stripes or a solid colour fabric, but for this print I just didn’t like that you could see the white on the reverse. The solution was simple though, I just folded the ties in half and stitched them together along the line of topstitching they already had. Now they are invisibly joined together and the reverse is enclosed.
I hope that makes sense! It was easy to rectify and I am so much happier with the look now. I am really impressed with the feel of this fabric, it is quite weighty and extremely stretchy in all directions and feels like good quality. I am excited to snuggle up in these secret pyjamas as the weather cools down!
Disclaimer: ⭐️Fabric was provided free of charge in exchange for a review. I chose the fabric and what to make with it. All opinions are totally my own, and I wouldn’t recommend something I didn’t like!
Making and Books 
Looks lovely! Good idea on the ties. I’m definitely still hanging on to summer sewing though 🙂
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