Marianne dress for spring - the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity!

As part of my spring wardrobe overhaul I fancied making a Marianne dress.  I say SPRING almost as if it's a different season, but in reality here in Northern Ireland it's really just an extension of wintry weather clothing only maybe using lighter colours.  Of late I have found that there is not much requirement for cotton lawn or double gauze until about mid-May at best.  Having said that I fancied one of those stripey Parisiene takes that are so in with blue and white stripe fabric, but somehow I just couldn't find the right fabric.  So I ended up using some lovely merino fabric in a pink and grey chevron pattern that I had bought a while ago.  Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that this fabric is my passion, it is so soft and cosy, but lightweight and where I live can be worn in most seasons.

 I decided to use a grey marl merino for the upper bodice, upper sleeves and cuffs and the main fabric is a pink and grey chevron pattern.  I reckoned if Pantone say MARSALA is the colour of the year then I can say that burgundy/wine is one of my colours this year.

I made the size 14 and I would say it is fine in the upper body, but is a bit baggy from the waist down, the skirt part is quite flared, so I probably should have gone to a 12 in the lower part.  Ah well, now I know for the next time. (Still on the look out for that perfect stripe)

The dress itself is really an A-line crew neck dress, but there is a lovely little cuff detail which just somehow adds to it.  I have a million buttons stashed and yet how come I always have to go out and buy for particular projects.  Anyway, in this case, I think it was worth it - they are a grey/wine marl effect and match really well

The other version of the Marianne has a lovely little Peter Pan collar and you can make a kimono cap sleeve, now that would be lovely for summer, but for now I hope to get a good couple of months wear out of this version and, of course, it will be great for autumn.  It's a simple, but great pattern, I wore it today and it was comfy for driving and sitting five hours in an embroidery class!

Incidentally, I like to imagine why designers decide on the names for their patterns.  Now it may be that Christine Haynes just liked the name Marianne, but when I looked it up, Marianne (the French name) means 'having the spirit of  liberty, equality and fraternity.'  I LIKE THAT and I like the dress!