Meet my autumn(est) dress ever. It is all about the fabric with this one, just look at all those different coloured leaves. If you ask me if I love autumn I really do not know what to say. I do love the colours, shift in the wardrobe, pants domination (preferably me-made), pleasant temperatures… but the one thing I do not love about it is the fact that summer is over. Not really something to blame on autumn, but there you go. So, I guess I do like it, but by the time I get accustomed to it, it is already almost winter. And the same thing every year. But, this time I made an autumn dress and I am ready for all future autumns coming my way!

The pattern is Florence dress by Sew Over It. This dress was interesting to me from the start and if you missed it, the pattern is named after Florence of Florence and the Machine. And as I already mentioned in one previous post she is one of my style icons and coolest gals out there. Her name is a definition of a long dress for me so this is all just so appropriate.

The pattern is easy to construct. In original, it has a mandarin collar but I lengthened it to get the bow. It was the easiest hack ever and looks so great. I lengthened the pattern piece of the mandarin collar as much as I could – it was determined by the amount of fabric I had. But you can easily make it longer or shorter based on the bow size you like. And that is why sewing is great!

As the pattern is easy to construct and I want the dress to last a long time I made the (almost) entire thing with french seams, apart from the armhole opening. Not sure why I have not done it there as well but I guess I was either eager to finish it or once I basted the sleeves to check the fit I was too lazy to unpick them. But hopefully, it will still last many autumns to come.

The pattern has elasticated waist which is not my favourite but does look good, is easy to construct and wear. I was thinking of how I would avoid it next time (I am not a fan!) to get the effect of the elasticated waist without really having one. I did literally just that – no elastic – in my second version which is coming to the blog soon, keep your eyes peeled!

I used a viscose fabric with falling leaves on a blue background I got while in Vietnam last spring. It was a great option for this pattern. My sister is the one who talked me into buying it, so thank you, sis! We first saw the same fabric with a dark green background which looked ok, but something was just not speaking to me. But then I saw the blue colourway one and the rest is history.

Golden rule: take pictures on a day with no wind. I am great at following my own rules

I received a great reaction on this dress over on Instagram and thank you all for your likes and comments. This gal is happy when something she made with her hands is so well received.

Thanks for reading and happy sewing!

Ana