This is a franken-dress based on a bit of both the Burda Raglan Darted Dress (03/2015 #120B) and the Short Sleeve Maxi Dress (03/2015 #122). I used the hem length of the former pattern and the stretch jersey fabric and a pocket from the latter pattern.

I mail-ordered this Missoni-inspired jersey fabric from Mood back in February (but I just checked they seem to be sold out of it now). I don’t normally order from Mood because their shipping to Canada is too damn expensive, but I was taking a trip to visit my mom in Florida for her 80th birthday so I snuck a little cross-border online shopping into the deal. The fabric is super-soft and comfortable with great drape, like a favourite light-weight T-shirt. I found it *very* difficult to lay out and cut, as it was easy to distort the grain when laying it out, and the edges curled like a motherf*&^er. I only had 2 lousy yards to work with, and I had to make sure the stripes matched up. It was a feat of engineering, and when all was said and done I had about 4 square inches of fabric leftovers. Phew.

As I discovered while shooting these photos on a blustery day, this dress is not suitable for windy conditions! Those side flaps are like the wings of a glider ready to take off in the breeze. I can just picture it: gust of wind on a city street, skirt wraps itself around my face while Bay Street financiers and overseas tourists try not to notice my ripped granny pants as I struggle to free myself and keep walking like nothing happened. Added to To Do list: buy decent pair of underwear to wear with this dress.

Pattern modifications:

• I made the back hem a few inches longer than the front hem, but they actually look even when I’m wearing it…the extra length makes up for any junk in the trunk at the back (which is quite minimal in my case, but made a surprising difference before I altered it).
• I added a neck band (the pattern calls for a facing instead), which I thought was going to be the death of me. I binge-watched YouTube videos on inserting a neck band before feeling confident enough to not fuck it up. It still took me three tries to get it right, and one of the tricky parts was getting the angle of the vee to be the same shape/angle as the zigzags of the fabric print.
• I added a side seam pocket. (The maxi-dress version of this pattern has pockets while the woven-fabric version does not). I only added one pocket because one was all I could squeeze out of my limited fabric.

I think this dress is worthy of space in my suitcase for my vacation in Italy this summer. Buying knock-off fabric of one of Italy’s great designers is, like, all pro-Italy, right? And the super-stretchiness of the material works for the fact that I am going to eat ALL. THE. FOOD. IN. ITALY. Sorry, Italians, it’s all going in my belly. You’ll have to make other arrangements for yourselves. I am learning crucial Italian phrases such as “Bongiorno, Io a fame” (hello I’m hungry), “Bongiorno Io vado a mangiare che!” (hello I’m going to eat that!), and “Per favore mi dia più cibo e poi mi danno gelato” (please give me more food and then give me gelato). I’m all set!

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