One Saturday morning the Cloth Shop Ivanhoe had a photo of a poppy fabric in a blue and red colourway. This is the same fabric that Kate Middleton has worn.

I decided to go for my usual Saturday morning ride but while I was training I just couldn’t get that fabric image out of my mind. As soon as we got home and got myself organised for the day, I gave the Cloth Shop Ivanhoe a call.

Now if that’s not being dedicated to fabric, I don’t know what is. Kim was a lot of fun to talk to. When I occasionally visit Melbourne, I try to visit their store because they have a high end range of fabrics and they usually have fabrics I can’t find locally.

Again I used New Look 6067 because I’d already adjusted this dress for my current shape and decided this version would be fully lined.

I’ve used a cotton poplin so the dress lining is firm even though this fabric is a stretch woven. 

Above is an inside view of the front pleating and darts before being lined.

My aim for fully lining this dress was to keep the dress structure firm but not tight.

This photo shows how I placed the print on the skirt. The 3 inverted pleats at the front waist don’t detract from the print.

I had a thing for piping and this WIP picture shows you the sleeves with red piping. The red is not exactly the same as the poppies but it works.

I follow the advice I’ve read in Threads magazine to keep stitching closer to the piping to keep the piping from looking twisted. This piping was premade from Minerva Crafts UK.

Long story short: I wore this dress out for a Friday night out and felt great. It’s Spring right!

PS: I did buy the blue poppy colourway fabric so I hope to have that made up in the coming weeks, using a different pattern New Look 6000 😉

Enjoy your week.