Finished - Birdie Knit Inari

I'm so close to getting my summer garments all blogged up. Just squeezing into my summer list is my second version of the Named Clothing Inari dress, this time in a knit, and clearly sleeveless. 

The fabric is quite a heavy cotton-Lycra from Darn Cheap Fabric. They might still have some there but I'm not going to rave about it - the quality is terrific but the black ink has faded somewhat, so I feel sadly this might only get one or two seasons of wear.... 

It's interesting comparing the differences in a knit vs my first linen version. I added maybe 1cm to the side seams tapering to nothing at the notch around the waist area, as the linen was just a little snug. I did shorten it a bit more than the linen - the fabric isn't as drapey and it just felt a bit heavy and frumpy at the longer length (as I have mentioned for me the ideal Sack Dress equation for me is Sack Dress + short as I dare = wearable). Clearly I'm a bit of a strumpet as most ladies seem to be adding length to their Inaris!

Up on top I cut out the original armscye (I did raise the underarm by about 1cm) and neckline of the pattern and it wasn't great (obvs because it was drafted to have sleeves attached). Because I'm a messy messy lady I still had my Tessuti Ruby pattern floating around my sewing room so I just used the shape of armscye of Ruby to create a slightly cut in shape at the shoulders - not as dramatic as the the full Ruby (but I think that'd look really cool). I then bound and topstitched the neckline and openings from some scraps of a lighter weight black cotton Lycra to reduce bulk. 

I've worn this a fair bit - it's lovely on a hot day. The fabric has some body which keeps that great cocoon shape and I love the bateau neckline with the slight cutaway sleeves but I think the fabric is just a bit too heavy for the design - a knit with just a smidge more drape would be perfect. I probably sound like a broken record but a striped knit version has already been added to my 2016/2017 Summer sewing list. Yes. It exists. Planner's gonna plan.   

I leave you with this final photo - it was a hot gusty windy day when Anna took these pics for me down a Fitzroy alley with many many bad hair shots. I look like a braying donkey, but it actually shows the cocoon shape of the dress rather well.