Cotton Lawn By Hand London Flora Dress by Emily

Hi I’m Emily, or @notinator on Instagram, and I’m so pleased to share one of my latest makes – a By Hand London Flora dress in this gorgeous plaid cotton lawn.

emily's flora dress by hand london cotton lawn

 

I fell in love with this fabric when I saw it in the new arrivals at Sew Me Sunshine – green and pink are neutrals in my wardrobe, and I’ve never met a plaid fabric I didn’t like!
Cotton lawn is my go-to when making summer dresses – it’s soft, breathable and lightweight, and this one is also perfectly opaque, so no skirt lining needed.
As this fabric has a check woven through it, I took extra time when cutting out to make sure I was matching the lines across the back seam of the dress.

emily's flora dress by hand london cotton lawn
To do this, I first cut one side of the back bodice on a single layer of my fabric, making it sure it was positioned straight.
Next, I used my cut out back bodice and flipped it over, using this as my pattern piece so I could line up the plaid exactly.

emily's flora dress by hand london cotton lawn


If you do it right, the overlaid bodice piece should look almost invisible on your fabric! Just don’t forget to transfer any darts and notches on both bodice pieces after you have cut the second piece out.


emily's flora dress by hand london cotton lawn


This gave me two identical back pieces, ready for sewing!

emily's flora dress by hand london cotton lawn


The end result looks great, if I do say so myself! This fabric was a breeze to sew with, it would be ideal for a beginner wanting to work with a lighter weight cotton that will still behave on your machine.

emily's flora dress by hand london cotton lawn


As a little bonus – here’s how I styled it for a day of fabric shipping in the NY Garment district.

Pattern details:
By Hand London, Flora Dress. Available in sizes UK2-38
I made size 22 D-cup bodice, and paired with a simple pleated rectangle skirt.


*Emily was provided the fabric of her choice free of charge for her blog post & also provided with a £50 voucher *

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