Falling for floral Françoise fabric

20 July 2015 Sewing, Sewn No Comments

Pattern:	Françoise dress by Tilly and the Buttons
Size:	3, but took in the center back seam
Fabric:	floral printed knit (95% cotton, 5% elasthane), bought locally
Alterations:	lengthened by 4 cm, cut sleeves 1 cm shorter, took in at the center back seam, omitted the zipper
Make Again?	Yes, probably

I’ve recently talked to a friend about how I constantly fall in love with beautiful things: “When something looks amazing – be it a colour palette or a pattern or a fabric – it’s a bit like falling in love: I have butterflies in my stomach. That’s how I recognize beautiful things”.

She gave me the same look I give my other friend from the tax office when she talks all excitedly about numbers and laws. A look that says “Wow. I have no idea what you’re talking about. But it’s fascinating how passionate you are about your job.”

Since she really didn’t know what I meant, I better kept quiet about the fast that this was the principle I decorated my entire apartment with. Hell, this is the base for everything that I do. It’s my job to have butterflies when seeing beautiful things! God, when you read that sentence again, it sounds so silly.

Aaaanyway, the fabric for this dress definitely sparked butterflies. It’s actually not from my stash but newly bought. After the big cleanout, my wardrobe consists of mostly plain basic pieces which feels just wrong. Old and boring and unexciting. And that’s not how you want to feel, especially when in the middle of a big life transition that involves a new city, new people and a new school.

So despite my ambitious destashing plans, I went on a small fabric shopping trip.

Four fabrics came home with me, one of which being this floral knit. It’s a bit thicker, like sweatshirt fleece, but has some body so I gave it a go as a Françoise dress.

You would expect this to be an easygoing fabric but it actually wasn’t: The yellow and pink flowers dominate too much when wrongly placed and I spent an hilariously long time pattern placing. And then matching the florals in the center back and sleeve seams, because I’m nerdy like that.

As with my Mathilde blouse, I had a problem with gaping at the back neck and ended up taking in the center back seam which improved the fit but ruined my ninja-like pattern matching.

But this doesn’t stop Françoise and me from being in love. She’s beautiful and comfortable, has a cool 60s shape and great secret pyjama qualities. If all goes well, who knows, maybe we’re going to elope to the US and marry :)
But first, I’ll try my best to complete the Cambie Dress for the Outfit-Along. Another fabric I fell in love with right away, although a few years ago.

So how about you? Does your creative life involve any butterfly-sparking situations?