The Lisa-Gabby Dress

Okay, so I swear I chose this fabric for this dress before I saw Lisa's dress. Lisa can testify regarding this, as she cut the fabric for me in Tessuti. You know how much I love Japanese fabric, and this is the most amazing Japanese rayon, sold in panels. Soooo pretty.

Anyway, this is Tessuti's new pattern, called the Gabby Dress.

The pattern is a simple capped sleeve dress. No darts, nothing tricky. It calls for bias binding to finish the neckline. I bought two panels of the fabric, although the pattern calls for 2.20m for the longer length.

I made a size medium muslin and it was much too large, so this is a size small. I cut the pattern pieces at the very bottom of each panel to capitalise on the dots. I also lengthened the hem by 4cm. I did this by just tacking 4cm on the end - there aren't any lengthen or shorten here lines, but I think doing it this way worked just fine.

I decided not to use binding for the neck edge. Because the rayon is sheer, on Lisa's suggestion, I underlined the entire dress using lining fabric. I then lined the bodice of the dress using the same lining fabric. I did this by cutting the pattern pieces 5cm below the armscye, curving out slightly to the CB and CF. I also lined the sleeves, but used the rayon itself. Because I didn't have much fabric, I had to cut the sleeves off-grain, but this doesn't seem to have made any difference.

I love this pattern. It is simple to sew, and because of the simple design really showcases a stunning fabric. I've actually already made another one from a remnant I got at Tessuti not long ago.... pics coming soon!

But now I'm in a bit of a sewing rut. I made a muslin of the Minoru jacket, and it looked awful. I don't have the motivation to tweak it - I just don't think raglan sleeves suit my broad shoulders. What should I make next? Any good pattern suggestions?