Merchant and Mills Chambray Curlew dress.

I've wanted to do the Merchant and Mills Curlew dress for a while.  I made the sleeveless top version of it (here, if you want a wee look) and, in general, I liked it, but it was a little bit snug, so I made the next size up in the dress.

I used a drapey medium weight chambray denim which I bought in my local fabric shop Craftswomanfabric.  They have a great selection of all sorts of fabrics if you are ever in County Antrim.  It's perfect for using on the bias as there is almost a corded line effect which looks very nice on the diagonal.

 On the dress design the back is in two pieces and the two sections are cut on the curve which gives it shape.  As you can see there is some droop going on on mine, looks like there is too much fabric at that point, probably the curve of my back.  If I had more or any training I could probably do something about it but I'm not too bothered about it.

Diagonal lines cut on the bias.

 As with the top, I took my time to tape the armholes, neckline and the back curve to strengthen at these points.  Being on the bias means that there can be some 'drop' so a slight zig-zag stitch is used to counteract the stretch effect.

 I took 3 inches off the length, as I'm not keen on overly long dresses.  I prefer knee-length or just below the knee, just personal preference. (I am 5'5" just to give an idea)  I should also have checked the sleeve length before sewing as they are really long.  I have them rolled up for now but I reckon I would need at least a couple of inches off them, they are also pretty narrow which is a nice feature of the dress, but if you have larger arms you might need to widen the sleeve.  There is nothing too tricky about this dress, probably the hardest part was the actual cutting out of the fabric.  That was a crawl around the floor job, a bit hard on the knees!  Definitely worth taking your time over the little details though.

So that's another new item for my Ten Item Wardrobe, I think this will fit in very well, first time making anything on the bias and I think for those with some more .. ah hem, rounded bits it might even be a bit flattering.

I mostly wear flats or wedge heals during the day but I think it could look well with higher heeled shoes or long boots.