Davenport dress

After what felt like the longest and shittest time ever, I FINALLY got to visit my best bitch last weekend! We had SO MUCH FUN and it was wonderful to see each other in person after many months of restrictions and cancelled plans. Patsy and I have done a fair bit of remote buddy sewing during the pandemic, but nothing beats sitting down next to each other at our machines and stitching away in the same room.

It wasn’t difficult to choose the project we would work on as we had both fallen hard for the new Friday Pattern Company Davenport dress when it was released a few weeks ago. I had also fallen in love with this stunning viscose from Sew Me Sunshine – as a big William Morris fan and lover of all things mustard, I just couldn’t resist! I thought the print would suit the 70s vibe of the dress well and I had seen a couple of really gorgeous Davenport dresses made up in viscose – the drape of the fabric is perfect for all those pretty ruffles and gathers.

I cut my pattern and fabric before I travelled to Yorkshire and I’m glad I did – there are lots of different pattern pieces (most of which needed to be cut on a single layer) and the fabric was squirmy to say the least! Fortunately, after making a Wilder gown, Sagebrush top and Ilford jacket I was confident that the size S would be a good fit for me and I was right – the dress is nicely proportioned and I didn’t need to make any alterations.

Patsy wasn’t confident that we would finish our dresses during my stay because we had other things planned (*cough* fabric shopping *cough*) as well as sewing, but we actually managed it with time to spare! We stitched on Friday and Saturday evening and most of Sunday and our dresses were finished by tea time. The neckline and yoke construction were really interesting to sew and although on first glance it might look like a lot of gathering is involved, the elastic and drawstring do most of the hard work for you. My viscose was a lot more challenging to sew than Patsy’s cotton lawn, but there were no dramas during the project and only a minor amount of unpicking when my fabric was misbehaving.

I really love the finished dress and it’s just as pretty as I had hoped! Although it’s an easy to wear, ‘throw-on and go’ dress, it is packed with pretty and interesting details. Fabric choice could completely transform the Davenport – a subtle checked cotton like the pattern cover sample makes a lovely every-day dress, but something like bamboo silk would create an incredibly luxurious dress for a special occasion – just gorgeous!

The only slight reservation I have is that my dress is a tiny bit too 70s… is there such a thing? What do you think?! Let me know in the comments and make sure you head over to Patsy’s blog to swoon over her pretty floral version of the Davenport!