Birdie dress

Every girl needs a frock with a giant, orange-eyed bird plastered across her lady lumps, am I right?

I saw this fabric on the Tessuti website and had an Oprah-esque lightbulb moment. Come home with me, it called. You and I? We are destined to be one. A little stalkerish, perhaps. But I don't mind  my fabric leaning toward cray-cray.

Can  you spot the zip? Neither can I!

At first I thought I'd make a Sewaholic Yaletown frock, but I really wanted to showcase the bird and I don't think I would have been able to with such a full skirt and bodice.  Then I remembered my beloved New Look 6070 and it became a match made in fabric paradise. A viscose/elastane, this fabric has quite a bit of stretch and I ended up taking in the back by a whopping 10cm. I also omitted the back vent as the stretch of the fabric means the skirt is comfy and easy to walk about in without an opening at the back.

I love, love, love this fabric. It's a Manning Cartel remnant and it drapes beautifully. The only problem I had was when I pre-washed it the colour ran all over the place, leaving my lovely white birdies looking kind of disease-ridden. I considered returning the fabric but I really wanted to make it work so bought some of that colour run remover stuff from the supermarket and took a punt. The packaging said it might not work on fabric that contains elastane, but luckily for me the birdies were cured of their unsightly rash. Phew. I'm hoping it won't happen in the next wash. Fingers crossed.