Second hand fabrics can be tricky.

The linen fabric is preowned and you can see the faded parts where the fabric folds are. No wonder it was so cheap.

I had bought the floral mesh that everyone loved in 2022 and it’s been sitting in my stash since then.

The thought of trialling a slip dress to go under the mesh floral seemed like a lot of trouble…at the time. That was 2022

Fast forward to 2026 and I really didn’t want to waste decent quality linen. The linen washed really well but I’m not good at dyeing fabrics. They’ve given me grief when I decide to use them and then wash them with the rest of my clothes. I sew clothes. I don’t dye fabrics. It’s not my super power.

Above is the hilarious floral bodice placement I could show you.

Yes the fabric is busy. That meant I had to play with floral placement for a while.

I know you can guess what I chose.

The initial final Amelia dress is in the YouTube video.

I’m currently adding more finishing touches to it. That includes: a hook and eye closure at the neckline; rechecking the hemline; taking out more centre back seam fullness below the zipper.

The dress pattern I’ve used is Minerva’s Amelia dress.

Since I sewed this version last year, I’ve resewn the sleeves to be straight. I know that’s boring, but that works for me. When I go to wear this again, I’ll have another go at the side seams because I’ve lost a few cms here and there.