With so many new patterns coming out all the time, it can really be hard to keep up. It’s even harder to go back and work on projects that you’ve pinned in the past to complete. For a few years now, I’ve wanted to make the Seamwork Arden bonus dress, but couldn’t find the right material. I wanted something that was swingy and light, but still substantial enough to work as a cool weather dress. I also wanted a fabric that gave a cheeky little nod to the late sixties London inspiration of the Arden dress. It only took four years, but I found my unicorn fabric in this stunning floral print Liberty London Tana Cotton Lawn provided by Minervacrafts.com.
This cotton fabric is so smooth and silky but it’s still sturdy enough the support the construction of this dress without a lining. It was an absolute dream to work with, although I was a little sad when I finally took the plunge to cut it. It was so pretty that I kind of just wanted to frame it and put it on my wall. Although, I guess it’s better to wear clothing that you view as a piece of art instead of just hanging the art on the wall. During these times, no one’s coming over to stare at my walls anyway.
For this project, I made a few modifications. The first modification is that I, of course, added pockets. The second modification is that I trimmed down the shoulder cap a bit because when I tried it on it was quite bulky. I also noticed that the dress was longer than I wanted so I trimmed 7 inches off the bottom and used that material for a waist tie. I added medium interfacing between the two sides of the fabric for the tie.
The resulting dress is so cute and comfy, and I am absolutely in love with it! A friend told me that I was channeling a young Stevie Nicks and I totally see it. I get some seriously chill 60s/70s vibes from this dress. I’ve got a tambourine around here somewhere, so all I need is a dude to play guitar and we’ve basically got a Fleetwood Mac cover band. As the weather gets colder, I can’t wait to wear it with tights and boots but for now, I’m rocking it with ballet flats and this cute hat I found on Amazon.
