Excuse me while I live in this dress

 

Six years ago I would never have worn the same outfit twice in the same week. Probably not even twice in the same month. But my values (and age) have changed. I prefer to have fewer clothes that I love (each and every one of them) and wear (each and every one of them) a lot.

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So let’s talk about this dress

I actually made the dress in April and since then I have worn it A LOT. If you ever happen to bump into me on the street, it’s very likely that I’d be wearing this dress. It’s the Jude Dress from French pattern company Ready to Sew. Remember the Jude dress and blouse I made back in February? Well, this is a knit version in black Nosh denim sweatshirting.

As much as I love my first Jude dress, this knit version gets worn the most, simply because I can move more freely in it. Especially when running (which I do often, that kind of run-walk-run, I’m not really running but I am late kinda run), climbing stairs 2 by 2 (yes, I do that all the time) and getting undressed (I find getting undressed a bit of a struggle as there isn’t much give in the woven version). Have you ever been stuck in a dress in a changing room of a shop and had to ask the sales assistant to help you? Well, it’s a bit like that but with no one to help you.

It’s a comfortable everyday dress (with pockets) that allows me to feel confident. AND it looks good with my DMs. Ticks all the boxes for me – perfecto!

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Let’s talk about the fabric

Nosh Denim Sweatshirting is my absolute favourite (and I’m not just saying that because of my collaborations with Nosh), but believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve used it to make something for myself. I even had to check to see if wasn’t mistaken, but no, this was for my nephew, this was for Scout, this was for Darcy, this was for Scout and this was for Darcy. Nothing for me 😦 until now 🙂

What I love most about the fabric is that it looks like denim but it’s softer, much more comfortable to wear, it’s robust but has stretch, I’ve worn and washed it numerous times over the last 8 months and the fabric still looks as good as the day I made it. These pictures were taken only last week. Nosh fabric never lets me down. I highly recommend it.

WARNING! minor rant coming up…

Annoyingly some of the things I have made over the years (not using Nosh fabric) have not lasted the test of time. My yellow Drop Dress for example, the fabric wasn’t cheap, but after only a few washes it started looking worn, the piling is now so excessive that it won’t be long before I can’t even wear it to Sainsbury’s. Should we be able to return crap fabric and get a refund?

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Alterations to the pattern

I just altered a couple of things to the Jude pattern to better suit my style.

• Pleats instead of gathers at the shoulders
• Drafted a new pattern piece for extra long and narrower sleeves (I love wrinkles at the wrist)

I’ll probably make the short sleeved version next (in knit), once I decide on fabric. Perhaps Jersey Plus, Vanilla. I’m yet to try the Jersey Plus range from Nosh, it’s like regular jersey but heavier – sounds perfect to me. Or maybe go for something to make to a big style statement. Any suggestions?