Sew: Tessuti Pia Dress in Black Linen

Well the sewjo has definitely returned. Yay for that! I just don't sew as much as I used to, due to a full wardrobe and other commitments. But I'm ok with that! Late on Thursday night I decided to sew a dress for Friday night drinks with the school mums. I had all the supplies for a Pia dress so it was a go! The fabric and pattern was cut out on Thursday night and I finished the dress at 5pm on Friday. The sewing part really only took about 2.5 hours on Friday afternoon, interrupted by school pick up and feeding the boys. Gosh they can eat!

When Tessuti released the Pia dress pattern I wasn't that keen on it. I decided to hold off until next Summer as I certainly had enough things to work on. I'm so glad I changed my mind. I love it! The pockets add interest to an otherwise simple style. I also really like the wide shoulders.

In terms of construction, things went together extremely easily and I really enjoyed the process. There is something soothing about sewing with linen. I did my own thing with the bias binding at the neckline and armholes. I finished one shoulder seam and then applied the neck binding before closing the other shoulder seam. The armhole binding is applied before sewing the side seams. This method is my preferred method for doing binding as I often have to fit the side seams once I've tried it on. Inevitably, I always end up taking the side seam in from the armhole to waist. I also eliminated the centre back seam. I didn't think it was necessary so I simply removed the 1.25cm seam allowance from the from the centre back and cut it on the fold.

Project Details
Pattern: Tessuti Pia Dress, size L
Fabric: Black linen from Clegs
Alterations: Removed centre back seam (cut on fold after removing seam allowance)

Apologies for some of the dodgy iPhone photos. My photographer only took from the waist up with the DSLR! I'll have to give him a lesson on photographing a dress.

I wore it out on Friday night to the Brunswick Mess Hall for drinks with my Funkis clogs and Dinosaur Designs necklace. I then pulled it on again on Saturday morning, in a post-cocktail fog, and wore it down the road to the hairdressers and beauty salon. It worked really well belted with a red belt and a pair of red Saltwater sandals. Multi-talented dress. Perfect! That's my kind of dress.

Have you succumbed to the Pia dress? Do it!!

L x