Liberty Short-Sleeved Françoise Summer Dress

Well, I can't stop making summer dresses in Liberty fabric. It's SO awesome! This is my third, the 1st being a 3/4 sleeve and the 2nd sleeveless, so nobody can accuse me of repeating my projects, I needed a short-sleeved one!




Once you've sewn with or worn Liberty cotton Tara Lawn on your skin, you will never stop wanting more, believe me. It is soft and crisp at the same time and so sweet to work with... very light and cool when you wear it, but it is not sheer and it does not wrinkle like most cottons. Well, it is expensive but worth it, if you like their mostly flowery patterns. I bought this one in our last trip to London and it is candy for my eyes, my hands and my skin. The only pity about it is that I was in a hurry to finish it for my students' graduation day, I made it in two days of glorious sewing only. Too short!

The pattern is also a recurrent one, this is my third, but my previous ones were wool and viscose, both for winter and I wanted to try it with a light fabric and short sleeves. It proved as lovely as the thicker ones. The skirt side A seams are too pronounced, and they can point awkwardly at an angle sometimes, but it is still very becoming to my figure, feminine, elegant and also informal and cool. Now that I think of it, maybe the center back seam should also have more of an A shape, to be more equilibrated. I will try it next time, because I will probably make another Françoise some day.



The procedure was my usual one. I have the muslin pieces stored and I used them to mark the pattern into the fabric with tailor tucks. First I stitched the invisible zipper to the two back pieces and finished the central back seam. I then basted it and try it on to do the 1st fitting without attaching the sleeves. It seemed perfect. I proceeded to machine stitch darts and sides, self-enclosing the seams. I love to do this with Liberty fabric, it is so well-behaved!

I stitched the two seams in both sleeves and self-enclosed them too, attaching them to the dress bodice.
I had a 2nd fitting then, to decide the length of the sleeves. Everything looked perfect, so I went on to self-encase the raglan seams (these are tricky) and finishing the sleeves and the dress bottom hems, also self-encased.

The final step was to make the neck. I cut a shaped strip using the patterns all together, to avoid any seams in the facing. I applied to the dress, right sides together, pinning it and machine stitching it following the tailor tucks, and they were placed following the original pattern.

This was done between pressing and ironing again and again the pieces, the darts, and seams (first open, cut them, press the to one side) and the finished self-encased seams.

To complete the outfit, I made a gorgeous and very comfortable face mask, to go with the pandemic style. It is the most beautiful and nice to wear of all the ones I have... so I've been digging in my remnants bag for Liberty's 24x24 pieces. I will be sewing more face masks next.

With the remains of the fabric (I had 1.5 m in total), I made these wonderful mini shorts for the summer. 

Bicolored Viscose Françoise Dress

 This is my second rendition of Tilly's pattern Françoise dress, which is awesome and very becoming in wool or winter fabrics. In this case, it is a viscose that combines black and white threads in an ear pattern that appears mottled grey. I used black silk to make the collar and the lining of the dress, as I did with the previous version. The feeling of silk touching the skin is wonderful. 

I like this pattern because it is becoming to my figure, being fitted around the bust and underbust area and with a flare beginning in the waist to the bottom of the dress. 

I followed the traditional method of marking the pattern pieces with tailor tucks, basting it, trying it on to fit it (no changes had to be made) and machine-stitching it. 

 

Then I constructed the collar in silk and thermofusible interlining and basted it to the right side of the dress. 
In the next stage, I marked the black silk lining with a tailor's chalk and directly stitched it with the machine, leaving one extra cm all around. I put then the lining over the dress on my dummy, right side over right side, and pin it around the neck. I stitched with the machine all the neckline, turn it towards the inside of the dress, and secured it in place with invisible hand stitches under the collar. 
 

I hand-sewed it along the invisible zip and around the sleeves' bottoms. I finished the lining's bottom hem with machine top-stitch along a self-encased turn. 

It is a wonderful dress and I plan to wear it in all my family reunions these holidays. 

I took these pictures after a whole morning working with kids in the winter festival, running up and down and sitting around. It felt as I wore nothing, comfortable and light, and I felt elegant and modern. I love it! I am afraid it is not going to be my last Françoise!