Rifle Paper Co. Cotton Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack by Chantelle

Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack

Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack

With the weather warming up here in the U.K. it seemed the perfect time to make a very special floral dress. I have dreamt about making a Nina Lee Bloomsbury dress for a while. The deliciously wide ruffle and buttons down the back, definitely caught my attention.

Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack - Sew Me Sunshine

I do think every Rifle Paper Co. fabric is stunning but the particular fabric I chose really stood out. The darker background just sets off the flowers beautifully. The fabric is made of cotton and is so soft. Even thought it is quite structured, I think it is perfect for a dress especially if you want it to hold its shape.

Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack - Sew Me Sunshine

Now on with the dress! This pattern is really straightforward to make. With no tricky fastenings, it’s a great make for a confident beginner. In order to make the blouse pattern into a dress, I simply lengthened it by 19” in an A-line shape towards the hem. I repeated this step for the back and cut two pieces.

 Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack - Sew Me Sunshine

I sewed the central back seam, stopping at 15” from the top. Finished each side of the opening and used hair bands as button loops. 

Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack - Sew Me Sunshine

I love the original high neck ruffle collar on this blouse but I wanted to try a different look. Instead of adding the collar pieces, I simply used bias binding to finish the neckline. 

 Chantelle’s Rifle Paper Co. Nina Lee Bloomsbury Dress Hack - Sew Me Sunshine

As if a sea of beautiful blooms and ruffles wasn’t enough, I added lace to accentuate the white flowers in the fabric. 


I am absolutely over the moon with my dress! It all came together so quickly. The dress is ridiculously cute and exactly how I imagined it. I just love it when that happens....

And that’s my dress of dreams, done! 

Thank you Chantelle! We absolutely love your dress.

You can shop all of our cotton fabrics here and we also have the Bloomsbury Blouse sewing pattern here.

*Chantelle was provided the fabric of her choice free of charge for her blog post & she was provided with a £50 voucher as payment for her time*


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