This is my first #sewjapaneseinjanuary make for 2019 and I know it’s going to be a firm summer-time favourite.  You could say… I’m tickled pink at Pink Lake!

It’s the third year that Jane and I have hosted #sewjapaneseinjanuary… an Instagram hashtag to inspire and motivate people to sew from their Japanese pattern and/or fabric stash during the month of January.  There are no sponsors or giveaways, it’s a community event on Instagram that anyone can join in.  I’m following the hashtag and I’m blown away by what people are making, and as a direct result, my ‘to sew’ list is increasing at a rapid rate!

My dress is from the cover of Heart Warmining Life Series : FU-KO Basics (ISBN 978-4-529-05451-5).

I’ve sewn this dress before and it’s in constant rotation in the warmer months.  I’m actually surprised how often I wear a long sleeved dress with bare legs!  This is one of my favourite ways to style it.

For version two, I decided to redraft the long sleeves to be short.  The sleeve head was very flat, due to the drop shoulder silhouette, so I shaped the bottom edge of the sleeve into an arc to avoid it sticking out too much at the hem.  This was a trial and error effort… I pinned pattern pieces to version 1 of the dress until I was happy with the shaping.  Tinkering, not drafting, is my approach to things like this.

I performed a 3/8″ (1cm) forward shoulder adjustment on this dress so the front neckline didn’t choke me.  When I sewed the first version, I hadn’t diagnosed my need for a forward shoulders adjustment and I just scooped out front necklines when they seemed too high.  It’s nice to revisit a pattern with more fitting information, as it makes me feel like my fitting skills are moving in the right direction.

The best thing about this pattern is of course the pockets.  The pockets are part of the front and back pattern pieces (see the line drawing photo from earlier in this post) and they form part of the side seam.  The pockets tuck nicely into the skirt of the dress and they are just so inviting to slip your hands into.

I nearly forgot to mention, I shortened the dress by 2″ (5cm) as I prefer to wear dresses with volume above the knee.

The shape of the dress is on display when twirling is undertaken.  It’s probably not a shape for everyone, but it suits my rectangle-like body.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you see version three of this pattern on my blog in the next few years.  In essence, I feel like this pattern and I were made for each other!

Pattern:  Cover Dress from Heart Warming Life Series : FU-KO Basics (ISBN 978-4-529-05451-5)
Fabric:  Deep stash linen purchased from Tessuti
Alterations:  I redrafted the sleeves to be short, I performed a 3/8″ (1cm) forward shoulder adjustment and removed 2″ (5cm) from the length.
Accessories:  Sonia Rykiel beads from Christine and Funkis shoes purchased second hand in as-new condition.
Location:  Pink Lake, Victoria