A very autumnal Malvarosa Dress

Hi ya, fellows! Hope you had a great week so far. After a few very stressful shifts at work this week and last weekend I am now even more happy about having a week and a bit off – my first official annual leave since I started my new job. My best friend is coming to visit me here in London (whoop, whoop!) and I hope to get loads of sewing WIPs done, as well.

By the way, did I mention that I started teaching sewing workshops at work? I work in a large psychiatric hospital and many of our patients are on home leave on the weekends, so it’s a bit quieter on these days and I have some time to squeeze in a workshop every now and then. The first one went really well and was great fun for everybody.

Another great news: Tomorrow my blog turns two years old and shhh… make sure to pop by; there will be a giveaway you surely don’t want to miss!

Now, let’s get back onto the subject: I hate to say this, but it seems as if summer has come to an end. I am finally forced to think about my autumn wardrobe. I tried to avoid this for as long as possible (we can wear sleeveless dresses in autumn as well, can’t we? Long love cardigans!) Well, but then I came across this fabric.

The fabric:

It’s a beautiful peachskin polyester, courtesy of stoffe.de. It was end of roll fabric, but I loved it so much and got 1.1m of it. I thought it would be enough for a blouse or a mini shift dress. It’s a love it or hate it print and I love it (the Mr. does not so much). The fabric is lovely to wear, very light and soft and drapes really well. It was also great to sew with. Although I hate ordering fabrics online, I really liked my ‘shopping experience’ on stoffe.de (they’re called myfabrics.co.uk here in the UK!) They’ve got a massive choice of fabrics which are sorted very well and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. The fabric is described in detail so what I thought I would get was actually exactly what I got in the end (which often isn’t the case when I shop online).

The pattern:

The print is quite large and I thought too many darts and seams would ruin it. Browsing through the Pauline Alice patterns website (there was a 20% sale for their first anniversary!) I came across the Malvarosa pattern and thought the cut would be perfect for the fabric I had. I wasn’t sure whether I had enough fabric (you needed at least 1.5m), but I thought I’d figure something out anyway. In the end I shortened the skirt a bit and did not cut it as wide as suggested in the pattern. Thus, I have a few gathers less, but I could squeeze the pattern onto the fabric. I even had enough for the pockets (which actually sold the pattern to me!)

I love pockets! Pockets are great!The fit:

I really like the fit of this dress. The pattern describes the Malvarosa as

“babydoll dress [which] features an A-line bodice, low waistline, full gathered skirt, boat neckline, bust darts and drop shoulder sleeves.”

 

And this is exactly what it is. The dropped waist makes the fitting of the dress really easy and it’s very comfortable to wear. I actually think the wider fit is quite flattering. I never got so many compliments at work!

The only thing I am not so sure about are the ‘sleeves’. I really liked the long-sleeved version, but obviously had not enough fabric. I thought the cut of the sleeveless variation was very interesting and unusual, but after wearing the dress I am not sure whether I am a big fan or not. They don’t bother me, but I don’t think I like the shape too much. It is a good shape to wear at work though, as the shoulders are covered.

Have you tried the Malvarosa pattern? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I’m pretty sure I’ll make this dress again, probably with the long sleeves. I also bought the Carme Blouse and Ninot Jacket pattern, make sure you check these out, too!

xx
Charlie

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Happy sewing!
♥

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