You might have worked out by now that I quite like the Papercut La Sylphide pattern.
😉
(La Sylphide the first, second, third)
Hey guess what?
I made another one! 😉
I was in The Fabric Store when I really shouldn’t have been (my meeting up that end of town finished early so actually it’s my clients fault…) when I saw this cute bolt of zebra printed silk. I picked it up and carried it around for a bit and by my second store lap the chubby little zebras had convinced me I wasn’t leaving without them.
I bought 2 meters along with some dark blue poly-cotton blend. I already knew this was going to be my 4th La Sylphide.
I underlined the dress bodice and lined the skirt with the blue poly-cotton. I kept the side seams free below the waist and hemmed both skirts separately but caught the lining into the button packet at center front.
I “Frenched” the skirt side seams (that’s a sewing term) and we all know French seaming on silk goes better when paired with white wine.
I don’t really need the instructions anymore but I still find hemming is the worst part of this pattern for me, especially with naughty fabric and ALL my versions have been made with naughty fabric! To make it even worse this time I had to do two hems.
TWO HEMS!
So I hung the dress for several weeks before I could be bothered to be extra sure it had fully dropped. Then I had an epiphany and decided to hem the silk with hug-snug.
Then I just turned the dress inside out and pressed the lining hem up just a little bit shorter than the silk and stitched a simple double-fold hem.
I’m really glad I underlined/lined the silk. The poly-cotton is nice and soft to wear and it should help the dress last longer.
I had a lot of help from Harriet for my photoshoot.
She loves being outside with her humans and the Kowhai tree was just starting to flower so that means lots of birds to watch and unsuccessfully stalk.
I chose simple black buttons from Spotlight.
Spot my creepy stalker cat…and I’ll leave you with my failed twirly pictures.
THE DEETS:
Pattern – Papercut La Sylphide, size S
Fabric – Chubby zebra silk and blue poly-cotton from The Fabric Store, Wellington. Buttons from Spotlight, Porirua.
Other notions – Invisible zipper, interfacing
*Dr Seuss
Pingback: Rifle Paper Co La Sylphide | the curious kiwi
Pingback: #weddingguestdressoption1 | the curious kiwi
This is such a great dress, I can totally see why you would want to make this pattern over and over and over… I was looking for a similar style a while back to make into a maxi-dress for winter, and I decided on the Darling Ranges Dress from Megan Nielsen, but now I think the Sylphide might have been a better choice…
Beautiful dress, and so professionally done with the lining. You don’t see patterns often that have lining.
You do find the most fabulous prints, your wardrobe must look really fun and colourful when you open it! I think when the fabrics are so different you can easily make up multiples of the same pattern, and why not when it looks so good!
What a fabulous print, and your last photograph is hilarious!
Gorgeous dress and perfect fabric. How will you care for it? I always find that hand-washed silk fades after a while, and can’t find the inclination to dryclean everyday clothes. Do you have a secret?
Honestly? I just put it in the washing machine in a delicates bag on the gentle cycle and dry it inside. I guess I’ll see how it goes 🙂
I enjoyed reading your post 🙂
Pretty dress too!
Your dress is just beautiful! ❤ ❤
Thank you! 🙂
I can see why you would make another one. You look lovely in all of your versions and the zebra print is just too cute!
Another lovely La Sylphide! The print is so adorable without being childish.