Just in time for summer, Olivia has tested out the Palma Tee Dress from Copenhagen-based pattern makers Puff and Pencil, using this soft blue slubby rayon linen blend crepe! Check out photos and details below.
Project Notes
Puff and Pencil don't list a sewing level for this pattern, but we spotted an intermediate level suggestion for the style over on The Foldline. As a beginner sewist, Olivia bravely jumped on board to try this dress out, even though it includes a few techniques that she hadn't tried before, such as shirring. Olivia picked the size small, requiring 2.2m of Slubby Rayon / Linen Crepe - Sky, matching thread, shirring elastic and a small peice of 1cm elastic from her stash. Rather than using the manual, she chose to follow Puff and Pencil’s sew along on Youtube. She followed the pattern and made a small alteration to the depth of the shirring down the back, after trying the dress on. She found the fabric bulged a little in her lower back/bottom area, so decided to remove all the shirring back up to the waistline, which helped with the bubble bottom issue a little! Despite having never worked with shirring elastic, Olivia said she found it really easy! She recommends other shirring beginners to pay close attention to the amount left on the bobbin as you sew. Otherwise she found this project very straightforward and satisfying to sew, taking about a week in the evenings to complete.
Download the Palma Dress from Puff and Pencil's website here, and shop linens online here.
Olivia's thoughts on overlocking "I had to make friends with my overlocker for this project as the first step in the instructions is to overlock all the pattern pieces. I bought a second-hand overlocker about a year ago, but never put it to use as it scares me a bit! I decided to overlock as I go instead of doing all the pieces at once, as that felt too intimidating."
"Next time I would mark the notches with a fabric pen to make them easier to find after overlocking. I had to rethread the overlocker several times throughout the project, so I’m getting much better at that too! We are friends now."
"I was drawn to this pattern as I really like the square neckline and, as a beginner sewist, love a dress with no zippers as I haven’t attempted to conquer them yet!"
"I really like the colour and feel of the sky rayon linen and after seeing the Palma Dress tee sleeve version that Puff and Pencil made in an army green fabric, which to me looked similar, I thought it would be a good match for this pattern. I feel like this dress will be on high rotation all summer!"
