Maximum Swish

Hello! Summer is within touching distance in the UK which means my mind has turned to floaty dresses that swish in the breeze when I walk. This time, I’ve gone for maximum swish with three tiers of gathers!

Considering I wasn’t that keen on the Myositis dress pattern, I’m definitely getting my money’s worth now that I’ve found what works for me (i.e. added waist ties). I think this is my fourth but I know I’ll get wear out of it because I wear the others lots, particularly in the summer.

What’s different about this version?

As with my other Myosotis dresses, I started with version B as the base of my dress. I really love my ‘Imogen’ midi-length dress that I didn’t have enough fabric to make floor length and I wanted to create a maxi version.

Readers of my adventures in sewing might remember that I’m not a fan of the collar sewing process because it’s so tricky. I spotted a tutorial by StitchOdyssey for a collar-less Myositis which sparked my interest and inspired me to get the tracing paper out. Marie has saved the tutorial on her Instagram stories for anybody wanting to replicate this hack.

Below is a photo gallery of my process of creating the facing pattern pieces.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Apart from removing the collar, my other main hack was adding two gathered ruffles to the bottom to create the tiers. I ordered 3m of fabric to make sure I had enough and got everything cut out with some “emergency” remnants to spare. I also cut some waist ties to attach to my bodice pieces as I prefer my silhouette when the waist is pulled in.

Fabric appreciation moment

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten to give the fabric a moment in the spotlight! I bought this floral viscose from Rainbow Fabrics and it was really reasonably priced – important as I needed 3m. It’s dreamily light to wear and has “great movement” (I feel like Patrick says that on Great British Sewing Bee a lot) when I walk. It was also 150cm wide which was useful for the gathered tiers – you really need width for anything gathered.

Not wanting to blow my own trumpet too much but the length is perfect – long enough to be full length, but just hovering off the floor so that I’m not operating as some sort of floral road-sweeper. As a petite person, I don’t think I’ve ever had a maxi-dress that didn’t need inches taking off it so it was refreshing to not have to worry about that.

Thanks for reading. I hope this has inspired you to get out your maxi dresses and swish around in the sun. Here’s a bonus photo of me in front of our local windmill because everybody needs a local mill(!)

** Updated to credit StitchOdyssey for her brilliant tutorial