This beautiful and unusual fabric has been in my stash since last summer and I have have been uncharacteristically indecisive about what to make with it. It’s a viscose crinkle cloqué that I bought from The New Craft House and as is the nature of deadstock fabric – once it’s gone, it’s gone! This made me feel extra pressure to make something worthy and with only 2 metres I was heading down the blouse/top route, but I really wanted to make a dress and kept dithering for weeks.
The idea of an Anthea Blouse with a gathered skirt had been swirling around my head for a while after seeing a gorgeous version by @adinskausminsk on Instagram, but I didn’t think 2m would be enough. I just couldn’t move on without ruling this out, so I decided to lay out the pattern pieces and see if it would work. As you can see, it did! The crinkle runs from selvedge to selvedge which actually worked well in my favour because by cutting everything on the cross grain it fitted perfectly onto my fabric.
I didn’t have enough fabric to make a really full skirt, so I decided to use the pattern piece from the Style Arc Hope Dress (size 8). I cut the Anthea Blouse bodice pieces (size 2) at the waistline mark so I had length to play with to get the proportions right when I was attaching the skirt. In the end I removed a further 3″ from these pieces and I also took in the sides from the underarm, tapering to remove 1″ from the bodice side seam. The only other adjustment I made was to add 1.5″ of length to the sleeves so they finished a bit further down from my elbow – this is just my personal preference.
I really don’t do very much pattern hacking and even though I have seen lots of similar hacks of the Anthea, I did doubt myself a bit during the process. I needn’t have worried though because the end result is exactly what I envisaged and I am really pleased with it! The proportions are good, everything came together beautifully and the fabric is a really great match for this type of garment. I think the fabric would be well-suited to occasion wear but even though it feels weighty and luxurious, by making quite a plain and relaxed dress it works for everyday wear and I know I’m going to reach for it a lot.
After cutting out another garment last night, I now only have 4 cuts of fabric left in my stash! Consciously reducing my stash was in preparation to move house (don’t even bloody ask), but Patsy is visiting next week and we’re going for our annual pilgrimage to Merchant and Mills, so I fully expect it to be topped up again after our trip – I can’t wait!
I will leave you with these silly shots of my big sleeves – enjoy!