Pink Linen Sundress

 

Another great linen fabric from our last trip to Porto. I bought this one in Mundo dos Tecidos, in the city centre. The tone o pink is awesome, and it has the perfect fall for a summer dress. 

I searched throughout my old magazines again, and I found this perfect pattern in a Patrones magazine. 

If I repeat it again, which is fairly possible, I would perform a FBA, thought. I had to give a cm or two in the seams around the bust zone, and that probably produced some looseness in the underarm area. Nothing to be noticed by the untrained eye, but improvable for me. 

All in all, a very comfortable and chic dress, very becoming to the figure. At the end of summer, with a tan, it looks great. 

Purple Jersey Lounge Short Dress

 This is a simple project to wear at home. I bought this organic cotton jersey online from a shop in Barcelona. 

For the pattern, I sued an old tank top pattern and added the gathered and slightly A shaped skirt. 

I made some bias strips into the neck and sleeves bands, and voilà: becoming and comfortable. 

With some time of wear, I must say I prefer printed fabrics for loungewear, since the unavoidable stains from cooking will be invisible in them. That is something to have in mind for future projects. 

Blue Embroidered Gauze Sundress

For some designs, those with some special feature, it is better to use a commercial pattern than making one's own, in my experience. Anyhow, this is the case. I used an old Patrones magazine one! And it proved perfect! Also, it is an excellent match for this fabric, a cotton gauze with English embroidery in a cool faded blue. 

I bought the fabric in a wonderful shop in Porto, Amazém dos Linhos, very well curated, with few fabrics, specially linen and cotton, but all of them gorgeous, made in Portugal and in natural fibres. I loved the shop and I bought several nice fabrics you will see here during the next months. 

I made no adjustments, that I recall (it has been 50 days since I finished it now....). The neck cut is riskée, specially if, like me, you don't like wearing bras, but I think I get away with it, if barely! I love the cut of the skirt, it is perfect for dresses cut under the bust, which I love. 

And as an extra point, I have gone back to using old magazines. Years ago, I stopped using Patrones because I trust Burda better, or my own drafted patterns... but they are very creative and well-designed. When they are also well constructed, they are potential gems. And very cheap too. One of these magazines does not cost more than 5 € and you can get at least a couple of very good patterns. I have some numbers with a lot of excellent patterns, and they are still cool after 20 years.