Apr 21, 2023

A dress for walking!

the back of my Stevie

This is all about my newest Stevie.

I don't know about you but I have enough clothes, pretty much all made by me, and I really don't need anymore, but I still want to keep sewing clothes. So I have to have a reason to sew myself something new, an event, a party anything really but a reason to have a new outfit.

Well I had one, I have been planning a walk for my birthday to do part of the SW coast path, we did it last year, three nights, four days and a backpack with everything in it, staying in BnB's en-route.

We were planning the same time but further to walk this year so I wanted to keep the stuff I was carrying to a minimum. I had the clothes I was wearing during the day to walk in (same outfit each day). In the evenings we would head to the pub for a well deserved meal and glass of vino, I didn't want to wear the same stinky clothes as the daytime.

This gave me the reason, a brief for a new dress, lightweight but long enough to wear in colder weather with leggings and also with bear legs in the sun, you can't predict the weather here, Ever!

The Stevie is such a good pattern for me, the straight shape, the way it can be made in all different fabrics is just great. The only thing missing are pockets but don't worry I made sure I added these.

That's when the fabric came into play, I knew I wanted a lightweight fabric with a geometric print and nothing see through and this Atelier Brunette fabric has been on my wish list since it came in so perfect opportunity.

With the Stevie pattern I sew a size 7 top then grading to an 8 into the hips, this just gives me a bit more room around my backside. I also made the back sightly longer so that I could have a dropped hem on the back for a little bit more detail. I choose to sew the tie version seeing as the fabric was so lightweight.

The sew itself was a breeze, no issues, the facing was fun, the hem was speedy and satisfying and all round enjoyable sew.

in seam pockets

I am very pleased to say that it was a great successful for the walk too.

We walked from St Ives to Minack Theatre over the four days, with some tough days balanced with a couple of easy ones it was great. The dress paired perfectly with my borrowed base layer (colour matched perfectly) thanks to my sister, which was perfect for the evenings. When the sun came out it was a lovely lightweight dress so I didn't get to warm.

Stevie dress sewn in Atelier brunette fabric