Esther’s Myosotis Dress

In a switch up to things I have finally been able to send the lovely team the upcoming fabric in advance so that they can get something made to give you inspiration for this months fabric! So with May’s Classic box Esther used her blue leopard print viscose to make a stunning Deer and Doe Myosotis Dress

I’m on a mission to create some spring and summer friendly garments. Viscose is my preferred fabric to use to make garments for the warmer months. This month’s fabric fit the bill perfectly. It’s a lightweight fabric without being transparent so there’s no need to line it. The fabric also has a wonderful drape which makes it perfect for a variety of garments.

The garment possibilities are endless with this fabric. I considered making another By Hand London Anna dress, which is my go to pattern but I felt that would have been a lazy choice since I have made that pattern so many times. I considered the Winslow culottes by Helen’s Closet but having recently made three pairs of the culottes, I decided there was no need to add another pair to my wardrobe. I also thought the fabric would be perfect for the Bakerloo blouse. I truly feel that this fabric is quite versatile and would have worked for a number of projects.

I decided to make what I can now call a buffet dress, thanks to the Great British Sewing Bee. A loose fitting dress that I can waft around in while eating a large amount of fries at a Summer BBQ. The Myosotis dress by Deer and Doe has been a cult favourite for a long while but as someone who likes fitted dresses, it took me a very long time to warm up to this pattern. I prefer dresses with fitted bodices and defined waistlines. My default is to make a dress with zero to negative ease around the waist to give a lovely cinched in look. The Myosotis dress is a complete 180 from this style. The dress is an oversized shirt dress with lots of room at the waist with the option of a tiered skirt, the sleeves also have ruffles.

This is now my third Myosotis dress and I love this pattern. With the amount of ease in the garment, I didn’t bother to make a full bust adjustment. I made view A with a slightly longer skirt. I prefer to have more coverage around the bust so I raised the neckline by about 2 inches. Due to this, I used 5 buttons instead of the 3 suggested by the pattern.

My previous makes were just as the pattern suggested. However, this time, I decided to make a hack I discovered from Marie (@stitchodyssey). This hack involved omitting the mandarin collar that comes with the Myosotis dress and turning this into a facing. The hack made the dress easier and faster to sew because the collar is one of the trickier bits of the dress.

This garment was a breeze to sew and since I had made the dress twice before, I barely needed the instructions. Cutting out the pieces was a bit of work because I needed about 3m of fabric but only had 2.5m to work with. I cut out the bodice on the grain and cut the skirt and ruffles on the cross grain so I could have more fabric to work with. I was also able to make the skirt ruffles bigger which is always a plus in my books. I also added waist ties because I still like to stay true to my style. With the ties, I can control how loose or fitted I want the waist to be.

This pattern requires a lot of gathering. The sleeve ruffles are gathered into the sleeve pieces. The skirt ruffles are gathered into the skirt and the skirt is gathered into the bodice. I suggest taking your time to get it right so you don’t have to constantly rip out stitches. I also suggest hemming the ruffles before attaching them to the skirt piece. It makes life so much easier.

I absolutely love the Myosotis dress, especially in this breezy fabric. I can definitely see myself in this dress all Summer long.