Remembering Summer in my (slightly) modified Mimi G Jessica Dress

Hello!

It's properly Autumn here in England now, but I've still got a few summer projects to share. Typically, I only finished this dress in time for a couple of weeks' worth of wear before it got too cold, but I'm pretty pleased with it. All these pictures are taken at the dress's debut outing on holiday in the Dordogne. Sorry for the picture overload - I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful scenery, especially at the  magical Jardins de Marqueyssac.

 I wish I'd finished it earlier as it's the perfect floaty weight for the hot summer we had, but all my plans had a bit of a setback with my ankle issues. I'm glad it still got some wear!

I particularly love the pairing of pattern and fabric. This cotton lawn from The Man Outside Sainsbury's, made famous by Karen of Did You Make That? My one spree to his stall in Walthamstow Market at the beginning of the year has served me very well! This lawn was £7 a metre I believe and apparently Liberty, but there wasn't anything printed on the selvedge. It is good quality and a lovely 70s-ish floral print though, so I'm more than happy with it.

The pattern is the *free* Jessica dress from Mimi G. It's a lovely pattern and was very on-trend this summer. It was a pretty easy make and the instructions were decent, although you do have to mark your own buttonhole and pocket placement. I also didn't follow the order of construction to the letter, preferring instead to leave any hemming to the end in case I wanted to alter the length, but in the end I kept the skirt length as drafted.

I made a couple of modifications to this dress including a 1" FBA. However, after making up the bodice I realised it still wouldn’t overlap in middle, even after adding some extra room. My on-the fly fix was to create an additional button band for the bodice - luckily I had spare fabric left over. I prefer the look anyway. The band was 25.5cm in length and worked out perfectly for a neat turn at the top edge. 

If I made this again I would graft the bodice button band onto the skirt's button band so that doesn't have a break at the waist seam. I'd have to alter the order of construction and, for a neater and more efficient finish inside I should make some modifications to the shape of the facing at the bodice centre front so there isn't any doubling up there. 

To further tweak the fit I tried on bodice and took in a small wedge at side seams under the arms blending to nothing halfway down and curved in the seam under the bust for a closer fit towards the waist. Annoyingly, after all that faffing with fit I was a little careless with the placement of the straps and they're not quite symmetrical where they're anchored at the back- but not so off that anyone would notice! 

My only slight issue with the pattern is that it instructs you to make horizontal buttonholes, which for me means a bit of pulling at centre front. I'd do vertical buttonholes in future for a sturdier and more symmetrical line down centre front. Other than that it's a great pattern which is relatively easy to tweak for fit, and hopefully I'll get more wear out of this dress next year! 

NorseOtter xx