This summer we have three weddings to attend, the first is coming up next week in Melbourne!  I can’t wait to catch up with family go fabric shopping, eat, drink and explore. Because I’m in town some of the Melbourne sewing ladies and I are getting together for dinner and drinks. I can’t wait to meet up with some of the talented sewists of Melbourne.

Because it’s going to be hot in Austalia I knew I wanted to create an effortless dress to wear to the wedding. When Seamwork’s Catarina dress (pictured left) was released I knew I needed one in my summer wedding wardrobe.  The pattern has a simple gathered skirt and a fitted top with a waist tie. The top is double lined so you could make it reversible. My original plan was to sew the skirt with French seams and line the top with printed silk which would pair with the rest of the fabric.

I came across the fabric in the remnants bin at The Fabric Store. It was the last of the fabric in the store and luckily it was nearly the perfect amount for the Catarina.  Due to fabric limitations, I decreased the hem length by 8 cm and didn’t cut the fabric ties on the bias. I lined the top of the dress with a woven check green silk the main fabric is a silk rayon with a lovely drape.

I  love the finished dress. Next time I will go down a size in the top and cut the waist tie in two long pieces rather than five pieces joined together. I added narrow elastic to the inside near the join of the skirt and top. I will cover the elastic with green perisham ribbon. When these photos were taken I hadn’t created loops for the waist tie yet which meant the waist tie wanted to move around. I will definitely sew loops on before next week.

I’ve worn the dress with my fun Gorman shoes and Karen Walker necklace. The dress looks best worn with plainer shoes (I was excited after making this so I wore my party shoes). I’m hoping to finish a couple of t-shirts for Paul before next week and make a jacket which I haven’t started! wish me luck!

Leave me a comment if you have any Melbourne recommendations.

Thanks for reading