Holiday happiness

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As I mentioned in my last post, Mum and I had a holiday together in April and this was the second dress that I sewed for our Queensland island getaway.  I do love a boxy linen dress, even better if it’s from a Japanese pattern book!

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This is Pattern M from Machiko Kayaki’s book with the translated title ‘Clothes That Look Beautiful’ (ISBN 978-4-579-11568-6).

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The fabric is a lovely vintage washed linen from work which was super soft and perfect for gathers.

Dress M from a Japanese sewing book (ISBN 978-4-579-11568-6)

Dress M from a Japanese sewing book (ISBN 978-4-579-11568-6)

Dress M from a Japanese sewing book (ISBN 978-4-579-11568-6)

I still wear my green giant plaid crinkle linen version of this pattern circa 2019 (see below) and always receive compliments.

Dress M from a Japanese sewing book (ISBN 978-4-579-11568-6)

For my second iteration of this pattern I made a few minor changes:

  • I lowered the neckline, so that I didn’t have to mess around with a back neck split and button closure, and finished it with bias binding
  • I lengthened the sleeves by 2″ (5cm) so that they didn’t ‘catch’ on a bent elbow

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The genius piece of drafting in this pattern is the side seams.  One is slightly a-line and the other more cocoon.  They balance each other out, but it’s shaping I haven’t come across before, so I thought worth mentioning.

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Now if winter would just be over so I can wear this dress all the time!

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Pattern:  Dress M from a Japanese sewing book (ISBN 978-4-579-11568-6)
Size:  9
Fabric:  Vintage washed linen from The Cloth Shop
Alterations:  Lowered the neckline, lengthened the sleeves by 2″ (5cm), removed 3″ (7.5cm) from the length of the dress, performed a 3/8″ (1cm) forward shoulder adjustment and left off the sleeve ties.
Accessories:  Sonia Rykel beads from 10+ years ago (my favourite) and shoes purchased 8 years ago from Yoox.
Location:  Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne

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