Love Sewing Magazine - Marilla Walker Sailor Dress

When my copy of Love Sewing Magazine plopped through my door yesterday afternoon my plans for the evening suddenly changed!  I was going to have made a start on the Child's new dress but this seemed more important!  The pattern is a new version of Marilla Walker's Sailor Top which I made in June and wore a lot over the summer, so I knew I would love this (and I do!).

Marilla has updated the pattern to include multiple sizes, a dress length as well as top, longer sleeves (although I lengthened mine further) and some other little changes.  This pattern comes on a pattern sheet with the magazine so it was really easy to trace out and start making straight away.

I only made two small changes to the pattern.  As I said before I lengthened the sleeves by a few centimetres as I do prefer a longer sleeve length (I get cold easily!) and I followed the instructions for the original top for the neckline so my ribbon is on the inside rather than the outside.  This was purely because I used yellow ribbon and wanted it on the inside.  My favourite bit about this pattern is the shoulder gussets, they really lend themselves to being made in stripes but I would like to try some contrast fabrics next time like Kathryn's which I love.  Or maybe two separate solids.

The jersey I used for this dress is the same as I used for my last Sailor top but in the reverse colour way.  This is a very stable jersey in a lovely weight which is perfect for this dress.  It is also very soft and this dress definitely comes under the secret pyjamas category! Unfortunately the eBay seller this came from is out of stock of this fabric but if there was more I would buy a lot of it.  I do have another two metres left and I think I'm going to save it until I find the right pattern to use it on.

For the pocket I used a small piece of Nani Iro double gauze which I had leftover from a Maya dress I made in August.  I do love that dress so much but it won't be getting much wear until the spring (I had it on this morning and was a bit chilly on the school run!) so it will be nice to see the fabric on something I hope to wear until the weather gets really cold.

While I had the remains of my Nani Iro out I pieced them together and whipped up a quick cowl.  For the other side I used the same jersey I used for my dress so it's lovely and soft on both sides.  It's long enough to wrap around twice but could be worn just draped over once.

I am really pleased I found a use for the rest of this fabric, I don't like wasting any fabric but this is my favourite colour and it's perfectly suited to being a scarf.  I think I'll be wearing this most days from now on!