The Liseron Dress

I couldn't resist signing up for the pattern test. Did I actually have time to complete it without stressing myself out in the last couple weeks before we closed on our house and moved? Time would tell! But it was such a pretty dress design, and I had the perfect fabric already in my stash. . .

And thus I signed up to test the Liseron Dress (French for Morning Glory) from Wildflower Design Flowers. In the past I've tested the 18th-century inspired skirt from Wildflower Design, along with the pattern expansion to turn that skirt into pinafore of apron.  

In keeping with the historical inspiration, this newest pattern was a modern take on the 18th century Chemise a la Reign - a rather loose, fluffy, ruffley style of dress, fitted with drawstrings and popularized by Marie Antoinette. 

They were typically white, but for a modern everyday modern dress, white is a terrible idea for me. So I picked a wine-colored cotton eyelet from my stash. I bought it years ago at Joann's because I liked the weight of the fabric and the embroidery - but it was a beige color so I never did use it. Finally, I threw it in a dye bath with some silk and the color turned out beautiful! The weight and drape was just right for this dress pattern, and I was excited to finally use it.

  

This modern version is a bit less fluffy and ruffley, but like the originals it has puffy sleeves - you can choose if you wat to make them long, short, or elbow length. I picked elbow length.

And all the shape comes from ties - not drawstrings per say, but a long sash that wraps under the bust, criss-crosses, and ties at the waist. 

There's elastic in the top of the sleeves, and across the top edge of the back bodice. The top edge of the front bodice is gathered into a binding. My binding came out a bit too short, so I need to seam rip that and fix it for comforts sake.  The length of the binding has been fixed in the final version of the pattern.

The pattern includes side-seam pockets. I made mine a bit bigger than the original pattern, because I like extra large pockets, but I greatly appreciate pockets being included! 

The entire dress is constructed with French seams which gives a very nice finish.

The whole dress was pretty straight forward and easy to put together. I got it finished without much stress in the time I'd allowed myself.

And then I wore it to the estate sale at the house we were buying, a week or so before closing. 

We bought some furniture, met some neighbors, and I greatly enjoyed getting to go through the house again and begin envisioning how I would arrange furniture and what colors we would paint different rooms. . .

While were were there that day my sister took some pictures of this dress for me out in the woods - so this is technically the first garment I had photographed on our land - even though it wasn't quite yet our land at the time. 

Now, months later, we're happily settled into our house, at this dress in hanging in my closet, awaiting spring, when I intend to wear it plenty!

Meanwhile, the pattern has been released, and Wildflower Design is currently running a sale for Valentines Day - all patterns are on sale 25% off through February 15th, 2023. So if you're interested, check it out! 

Thank you Wildflower Design for including me in this pattern test!