Peacock coloured maxi-dress

When this beautiful bordered lycra arrived at Needlewitch I had to have it. It was more expensive than I usually like to pay for fabric. However, I first saw it at a time when I was going through a spate of Vogue 8323 tops which didn't use a lot of fabric so I bought 1.2 metres of it. But before I got to it, I started being dissatisfied with those particular shirts. I'd made enough that the flaws I hadn't been able to solve kept standing out and disappointing me. I didn't want to use my lovely fabric on a shirt I would be unhappy with.

Then I made this maxi-dress which I loved. (More about the pattern is in the linked post). This seemed like the perfect way to use the lycra. The big expanses of fabric would show off the print nicely. I got out my shirt-sized piece of fabric and found that, pleasingly, the width was sufficient that it could fit the pattern sideways. This meant that I didn't need as much fabric as I had used for the first dress and that the border print would be on the borders. But I still only had enough fabric for one of the three pattern pieces.

I hurried back to Needlewitch and bought the remainder of the bolt which was just enough. I got one back and the sleeves from the first cut of fabric and the front and other back from the second.

The dress has a viscose lining to help secure the shape. The neck and sleeves are finished with gold foldover elastic. The hem is twin-needled over edge tape.

I made a gold cardigan to go with this dress from some fabric in the stash. I used the same pattern as the maxi-dress, but increased the width of each pattern piece. The cardigan turned out surprisingly well for something that was thrown together the day before I wanted to wear it.

I continue to be exceedingly happy with this pattern. This fabric is spectacular and made a dress I am very pleased with.