Grainline Alder in vintage rayon
aka #teambumruffle
I wasn’t going to blog this for a while… but back to work tomorrow… so it’s a final holiday hurrah. Sorry for spamming you in the last week! I’ve mentioned before I’m an obsessive stitcher… and my last Alder is proof!
Grainline Alder view B – back view
So that pattern I wasn’t particularly entranced by when it was released? Yeah well… I’ve made three of them since November.
Here we go with the view I liked the least… and now find it has grown on me… View B – the one with the gathered sides and back.
Then it came up as a joke on Instagram that this version was #teambumruffle (recently blogged by Funkbunny and also made by The Stitcher and Gatherer – not blogged yet) which made me laugh… and then I wondered if I needed to re-think this one as there seemed to be quite a fan club out there.
Grainline Alder View B – side view. The armholes are slightly large but I prefer that in a summer dress, especially on our hot and humid days.
I wasn’t sold when I first put it on… and I confess it has grown on me. It’s been very, very hot lately and this is the perfect summer holiday dress. I don’t like wearing shapeless sacks as they swamp me, but the details of a collar and buttons provide some definition to this make and I do like that. I think the ‘girliness’ of this suits the pretty vintage fabric that I have been hoarding for a year or so now.
Attaching the skirt: It’s worth the three lines of gathering stitches recommended by Jen – the skirt gathers up nicely and it easier to attach to the bodice/shirt fronts.
I would also recommend referring to the online Alder sewalong when attaching the gathered skirt, it’s a little trickier than your standard gathered skirt shirtdress.
I did shorten this by 1 inch as I had read the back is rather long and I’m 5 foot 4… However the front is somewhat shorter than I anticipated so I would probably adjust the dip in the back and leave the front length next time. Then again… how many Alders do I need?
If you want more construction details, check out my Polka Dot or Blue Alders.
Grainline Alder View B, front view – a bit too short, ok for summer casual though I guess.
Since I have nothing else startling to add (other than my first impressions of this as a pattern release – and even when I first put it on – were wrong), I wanted to share The Thong Tree with you. Yes, yes. I know. In other countries ‘thong’ refers to a rather brief item of underwear. Here in Australia, it’s footwear – or as you might call it – a flip-flop…
This is a 700m walk up the beach, perched on the sand dunes with a stunning view – which Banjo rather enjoyed.
Lighthouse Beach Thong Tree
This local festive oddity only appears at Christmas time and is a ‘gift’ from a local artist. You can read about it here. We took Banjo for a walk on the beach as we had a spare hour or two the other day. Unfortunately the wind was howling and the #bumruffle was in full flight – or the dress plastered against my body… the perils of beachside living! Hence the photos in the ‘bush’ behind my house – the only place safe from the wind.
A windy day on a classic sandy Australian beach
It’s odd, these days I don’t like going to the beach and not taking Banjo with me. That limits the beaches we can visit… but I don’t really mind.
Pattern: Grainline Alder, View B
Fabric: Vintage rayon from the charity/op shop. Cost = $3
OK I’m done with Alders for now… I promise! Are you on the fence about this pattern or a fan of Alder? It’s taken me three versions to get off the fence and acknowledge that I am a fully-fledged member of the fan club.
