Cotton and Chalk, Sunday set In Liberty Cord

I've spoken before about how I'm not much of a Liberty fangirl, Its not that I hate there fabrics Its just that I can't really justify the price.

So when Abakhans Fabrics got in touch and asked me if I'd like some of their Liberty cotton cord I was like "oh, okay then" And picked one off the website.

AND THEN IT ARRIVED!

and the colours! and the softness! OMG! Seriously you know when a pony takes an apple out of your hand and you feel the really velvety nose part? That's what this cotton cord feels like!

Seriously I was sold and It was pre-washed almost immediately!

And then suddenly it happened, I fell a little bit in love with liberty and all it has to offer! And I found that OMG I actually could afford it if I brought it from Abakhans! And then I started my wishlist! if your interest this cotton, this lawn, and this lawn!

Anyway I chose the Stockton in Burgundy which I can't find on the website anymore sobs.....

And chose to make the Cotton and Chalk Sunday set dungaree dress from a recent issue of simply sewing.

And I think It turned out pretty Cute!!!! I didn't have any trouble with the construction of the dress as the cord knows how to behave its little fabric self!

The only trouble I had was with my own stupidity! I mean seriously when will I remember to keep trying stuff on! I had to unpick one strap because it was the wrong way round, shorten the actual straps and ended up just stitching them down because they were too long and I had to rip up the back seam to remove four inches of fabric because either this pattern has too much ease built in or I'm a moron.

The full circle skirt is really pretty and I especially love the fact that it has pockets. I always get so excited for pockets! Its cut on the cross grain but that wasn't an issue for me because this liberty cord isn't a direction print. Although can you imagine getting some chevron action up the sides... Extreme pattern matching! LUSH!

There's me demonstrating the pockets!  The only sad thing about this dress is you can't see the beasty topstitching I did unless your about a foot away from me. But I assure you its there and Its pretty spot on!

Because I had to remove fabric from the back of the dress my zip is central, but my button isn't. There was literally nothing I could do about it other than unpick the entire thing and start again [FYI I have altered my pattern pieces to reflect a smaller size!]

I promise the straps aren't actually twisted like they are in the photo above, it just turns out I can't dress myself! 

Here's a close up of the front of the dress, hopefully you can see the awesome pocket! Which is just big enough for me to keep the car key in when I go to tescos. But I think anything else would drag it out of shape and give gapey boob.

You can also see the buttons I used which came from one of little mans old cardigans. They weren't the ones I originally intended to use in fact I had a few options lined up and asked for help on a sewing community Facebook page. One was a clear favourite but a few people suggested I keep looking and I think it was a good call.

All in all I think its a grand success. To be honest at first I was like "Yay I've made a dress for an over grown child." but I wore it to a birthday party on Saturday and got some lovely comments from the other mums. [By the way how fricking awkward are kids parties? Like "oh hey, we vaguely know each other from school pick up time, Thank you for inviting my child, I'm going to sit in the corner because I don't know you from Adam and I don't trust you enough to leave my child alone with you. Kay?" ]

The only thing I wish is that you could see some of the awesome details better, like the pockets and top stitching.

But I'm determined to make another one in a denim of some form, maybe in something like this! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

P.S. Whilst the fabric for this project was sent to me free of charge all views are my own as is all the love! xxx