Tilly and the Buttons Indigo Dress meets Ogden Cami
I’m not usually one for impulse buying fabric - partly because I live in a small flat and don’t want to store it and partly because I can’t stand the idea of potentially wasting fabric, but sometimes I make an exception. A year or so ago, I wandered into a New Craft House studio open day and walked out with the blue and white gingham that I used for my Ruffle Sleeve Top by In The Folds and this mysterious white mesh fabric with fuzzy little orange polka dots. The gingham was a safe choice - I love gingham and had plenty of ideas for how I could use it - but the white mesh was admittedly a very random choice. There was something about it that caught my eye and I knew I had to have the fabric regardless of being a difficult fabric to match to a pattern. The New Craft House exclusively sells designer deadstock and from memory, I think this fabric was originally used for lingerie, but I decided to use it for something entirely different!
The image I had in mind was a Gorman dress that I saw in their Melbourne stores about two years ago. At the time, I loved the dress but didn’t have any occasions coming up to wear it, so I decided to ‘think about it’. I guess the image stayed with me - as often happens with clothes that I desperately want.
The Gorman mesh dress that I drew inspiration from
It took me a while to find the right pattern for the dress. I briefly considered using the Wilder Gown by Friday Patterns but it just didn’t feel quite right. After I realised I could use the Tilly and the Buttons Indigo dress pattern, I went ahead and made it - but of course, I still needed a slip to wear underneath. I actually made the Indigo dress a couple of months before the Ogdem Cami after getting distracted by other sewing projects.
Gathering the indigo Dress
I had to make a few modifications to the Indigo dress to account for the sheer fabric. First of all, I hadn’t considered that the pattern uses a facing for the neckline, which is obviously totally inappropriate for sheer fabric. Had I thought this through, I should have probably considered some type of bias binding, but instead, I used a rolled neckline. It worked ok in the end but it’s not entirely perfect as of course, the curved edge was hard to roll neatly. I also omitted the bust darts for the same reason. A major plus to sewing with this mesh is that I didn’t need to hem the dress or the sleeves. It looks so much tidier without hems and doesn’t fray at all!.
The Indigo Dress neckline
It took me a while after making the dress to decide what to do about the slip to wear underneath before a friend suggested making a hack of the Ogden Cami by True Bias. It was relatively easy to trace a dress version of the top and I’m quite happy with the fit. The one place I went wrong was choosing white linen and not fully lining it. I thought it seemed a bit over the top to line something that is already an under layer but admittedly, it is a bit see-through. I also used the same linen as the lining over the bust, which is visible. If I make a dress version again, I will definitely consider extending the lining to the entire length of the dress and using a lightweight lining fabric. Thankfully, when it’s worn under the Indigo Dress, it’s less see-through but it definitely calls for seamless underwear.
Despite the few things that I would change next time, I’m really happy with how this outfit has turned out. Now, I just need somewhere fun to wear it!
