Maria Denmark Edith in Blue

As I was rushing out the door on my way to work this morning, I managed to talk my darling husband into putting on his photographer's hat and taking a few shots of my third attempt at the Maria Denmark Edith Dress. 

You can read about my earlier attempts here and here. As the saying goes "third time's the charm". I am really happy with both the fit and the fabric for this one.

The fabric was purchased locally at Patchwork on the Bay. It is a lovely soft 100% cotton chambray. The colour is a lovely blue with black undertones. The bright blue threads can be seen along the selvedge. This was a lovely fabric to work with. It sewed and pressed beautifully... a very well behaved fabric which certainly added to the pleasure of sewing.

My pattern alterations can be seen much clearer in this version with the plain fabric. It was rather difficult to see the details of dart placement etc in my second version with the jungle inspired print.

I only had 2.5 metres of this fabric (112cm wide) so I had to piece the self made bias binding together to finish off the kimono sleeves. This worked out fine and I'm glad I went to the extra effort to do this.

I found these blue buttons at the same shop that I purchased the fabric from. They are a perfect match and the shop owner even threw in an extra button, no charge, as it was the last one left in the tube. This could come in handy if I ever lose one. Love the service at Patchwork on the Bay. I did some research on which direction button holes should be sewn and I discovered that garments with a button band usually have vertical buttonholes as there is not enough room to make horizontal buttonholes. That made complete sense to me, but this dress doesn't have a button band, it has a generous facing that allows plenty of room for horizontal buttonholes. I thought horizontal buttonholes would be safer...less likely for any wardrobe malfunctions if the buttons are put under any strain.

I have had some fun accessorising with different coloured necklaces and scarves to change the look. I think the blue is a little plain on it's own and benefits from a splash of contrasting colour. Very happy with this one!

Happy Sewing