I’ve just finished making the absolutely gorgeous Lois dress sewing pattern by Tessuti Patterns and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s turned out!! This was on my list of April 2020 Sewing Plans and I’m so glad I got round to sewing this up as I love wearing dresses in Spring/Summer when the weather gets a little warmer here in London. I’ve really been getting into floral prints at the moment and found some great inspiration on Pinterest – even though I practically live in black.

Choosing the fabric

After searching on lots of different sites for an easy to work with floral print, I came across a navy blue fabric on Minerva Crafts which has medium-sized cream flowers. It turned out to be perfect because the floral pattern was not directional, so I didn’t have to be so specific with the pattern placements. The viscose twill was a dream to work with and the drape was beautiful!

Construction

I made up the size 8 which fits me so well, it is a little baggy around the waist, but I like how easy it feels to wear and it’s not constricting at all – so I quite like the little extra room to move. The V shaped neckline is stunning, I know I’ll definitely be making another version of this dress in a solid colour in the future.

The instructions were really easy to follow, but this is definitely the first pattern I’ve used where I didn’t follow the instructions 100%. What I did differently is that I didn’t use any Vilene Shields, I personally don’t like working with them as I find it annoying to have to rip them out after sewing. You use Vilene Shields to stabilise the fabric and prevent it from stretching when sewing, however I just stay-stitched the same areas and found that it worked just as well. I’m sure on lighter, slippery fabrics vilene shields would work better because the fabric might be harder to handle, but because I used a nice weighted Viscose Twill I found it heavy enough to not need them! I also had a little wobble with attaching the bias binding to the neckline, so I just ended up overlocking the strip of binding and turning it towards the wrong side and edge stitching.

I know i’m going to wear this midi dress so much this spring/summer and can’t wait to pair it with a jacket and some ankle boots to walk around in – once this lockdown is over! I also want to hack this pattern and try to make it mid-thigh length for a super summery outfit!