It's still summer: Time for a second Simplicity 1803!

I made this Simplicity 1803 dress as part of Heather B's Summer Sundress Sew-a-long. Which is a great encouragement to make more summer dresses, especially because we have lovely warm summer weather in the UK. It means I can actually wear my summer dresses, yeah. I also wanted to have a second version of this dress with a patterned fabric, because with my white version I'm constantly worried about stains and dirt.

You might notice that I added cap sleeves this time. I intended to make a muslin with sleeves first, but couldn't wait and decided: when they fit -> sleeves, when they don't fit -> sleeveless. However, when assembling the dress I realised that I liked the sleeved version more. For this particular fabric, the sleeve version looks cuter :) 

But there was a small problem, the sleeves didn't fit. Because of my sloping shoulders, the pleat was sitting towards the back and it looked awful. I then moved the pleat forward towards my shoulder point, which looked much better. It took me two hours (and loads of ripping) to get the fit right, but it was so worth it.

This time I didn't line the bodice and skirt, because I wanted to sew a thin summer dress. As the fabric is not see through, this is fine. But the problem I have now is that the skirt is clinging to my panties! In most of the photos I took for this dress, it was actually clinging to my front and back. Awful. And I wasn't wearing a cotton pantie. So this means a) I go nude (not going to happen, haha), b) buy an anti static pantie (does it even exist?) or c) wear a slip (which will be hoooot in summer).

I have worn the dress with a slip already and it was fine. No clinging. However, the slip was a really cheap one from ebay and thus I'm thinking of making my own from silk. Maybe in black with a little lace trim.

 I didn't insert a lapped zipper this time, but went for the invisible one. I think I did a good job as you can hardly see the zipper and it was the first time that I put one in without using any instructions, yeah. *Me so proud* I'm always stabilising the zipper seam with fusible interfacing, which works like magic - no puckering!

You might notice that I didn't match the pattern. I tried at first and would have loved to place the four roses on each front panel. But because of the directionality of the print it didn't work. And then I got frustrated and couldn't be bothered to match anything. But I don't think you really notice, because the pattern is so busy.

I had some fabric leftovers and cut two stripes from it to make a long belt. I can wrap the belt twice around my waist and depending on my mood either tie it to a bow in the front or in the back.

Now I bet you really want to know what fabric I used? It was a liberty copy print that I got for half the price (because end of roll = 4£/m) from Goldhawk Road. I fell in love with it when I saw it and had to have it. That was 1.5 years ago. I couldn't decide what to make from it, but think it is a lovely pattern for a summer dress. I'm not sure you can see it on the photographs, but the leaves and flowers are outlined in gold. Love it!

I finished the hem with the rolled hem function of my Bernina (did I say that I love this function?!) and used black thread because it matches the fabric. So overall I'm super happy with this dress and think it will be great for autumn as well, as I can wear it with black tights. 

So how about you? Are you still sewing summer clothes? Or are you already preparing for the colder seasons?