A new Laurel

A little while ago, I was lucky enough to be picked by Minerva Crafts to try out some new stretch cotton canvas fabric when they asked "if you had the choice of these fabrics, which would you chose and what would you make?". I was still riding the high of my last Laurel top and thought that it would be great to have a winter-weight Laurel dress. And Minerva Crafts seemed to agree!

I chose a patterned fabric.  It has a good weight to it, with just a slight amount of stretch. It is perfect for a winter dress, or even a skirt and would be better for fitted/structured items as it's thickness means it doesn't drape massively. It does tend to fray once cut so you do need to make sure that you finish your seams off, which I did with a zig-zag as I don't have an over-locker.

The Laurel dress was easy enough to put together, although I did need to make a few adjustments to the pattern to take into account the thickness of the fabric: namely re-adjusting the sleeve and taking in the back centre seams a bit for a slightly better fit. I also tackled an invisible zipper for the first time using a normal zipper foot. After googling it, it seems the trick is to iron the zipper teeth flat and it worked!

For something a bit different I bound the neckline and sleeves with a black satin ribbon which I used just like binding, as I thought it would add a nice bit of contrast to the fabric. Clover Clips were essential to hold it in place!

So, without further ado, here's my new Laurel (which you need to appreciate I'm modelling on one of our hottest days so far!!!!!)

So, details;

Pattern::: Colette Laurel

Fabric::: Stretch Cotton Canvas

Size::: 2

Mods::: took in the back centre seam by 1/2" on each side, lowered the armstice and front darts by 1/2"

I'm really happy with how this has come out, I think it's going to be great in Autumn/Winter with a pair of leggings. In retrospect the only thing I would maybe change is taking in the skirt as it does feel a little bit pouffy!

Thanks again Minerva Crafts for letting me play with your new fabrics - I had great fun!

Sx

Todays sky ● glorious blue and baking hot!