December 2018.
by Named patterns.
I love named sewing patterns. Their styles are quirky, original and fun. They fit well and their sizing is reliable.
I had been sitting on the Reeta midi dress pattern pattern for over a year. I purchased it along with fabric to make in summer 2017, when the large floral trend was in full swing. But the more I looked at that floral fabric, the more I doubted it.
With the release of the fabulous new pattern book Breaking the Pattern. I knew I had to make up that blooming dress, before I went anywhere near my new book !
The fabric in my Reeta dress is Rayon. As much as I don’t like buying Rayon, as a home sewist we don’t have a huge array of choices. As much as I love linen, I don’t want all my clothing to be constantly crumpled and requiring loads of ironing. Finding Tencel in New Zealand is difficult. Hopefully this will change soon.
The Reeta Dress would be suited to someone who has sewn a collared shirt with buttonholes.
The collar is a little tricky to attach, due to its very curved ends. But the curve does make for a lovely collar. It sits beautifully when worn.
I stay stitched the garment neckline, checking the stay stitched seam back against the pattern. Just to ensure I hadn’t stretched it with handling. I then tacked by hand, the collar to the neckline seam. I had no trouble when I finally sewed it in with my machine.
The casing is also a bit fiddly. I did find the markings on the pattern for this placement a bit vague. I would carefully mark these on the wrong side, both fronts and back with a washable marking pen (much better than chalk).
Also mark the drawstring exit buttonholes on the correct side, centred where your casing will be attached. Make sure they are both in the exact same position.
following a pattern 