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I am a mother, a grandmother, and a teacher. But whatever happens in my life, I keep sewing. I have worked as a political communicator and now as a teacher in my formal life. I have also written extensively on sewing. I have been a frequent contributor and contributing editor of Threads magazine and the Australian magazine Dressmaking with Stitches. My book Sew.. the garment-making book of knowledge was published in May 2018 and is available for pre-order from Amazon
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Thursday, June 4, 2020

Spring 2020 : Jalie's Florence


The last of this spring Jalie patterns I previewed this year was this one, the Florence top and dress.

I used a linen blend from Fabricville and a nice bright colour. It seemed to me that this was a spring when the brighter and more cheerful the better.

Construction was simple a straightforward. As is typical with so many Jalie's there were a few nice details. The first I noticed was the outsized chest pockets, that I felt balanced the overall boxy look of the garment, and an interesting curved back yoke with a pleat for ease.

This is very much a put on and go dress and I suspect I will be wearing it a lot.

Here is my version without a belt. Obviously this is the most comfortable way to wear this dress. BTW I made this purse. It's cork, which is super easy to sew, and used the free Miss Maggie pattern from Emmaline Bags.



I also like this dress with a belt. Dug one out that I thought I had thrown out. Periodically I follow the advice to purge my closet and I always regret it. I was happy to see that this belt had survived, hidden away somewhere. I think it suits this dress.


I liked this pattern a lot, and was particularly happy with this season's new releases from Jalie. Now too that I have seen what other sewists are making, I am pretty sure I will go back and try some more, and certainly will be making some of the patterns in other sizes for the domestic clientele.

The Genevieve pull-on skirt pattern is one. Two of my granddaughters want one for themselves, and my daughter, their mother, talked me into shortening the one I made for myself and giving it to her. She's good about doing that. Her reasoning is that this would be perfect summer skirt to wear to work under her lab coat and who could argue with that/

She sent me this picture tonight, I have since cut out another two for her, and I have to say it looks cute shorter than the longer version I wore.


I have a lot on my sewing table right now so expect to see more from me. The truth about my partial absence from this blog for a while has been sewing related. After Christmas this year, when the reality of retiring was starting to sink in, I decided to write down all my best sewing tips. Once I started on that little project I realized that a lifetime of sewing, more or less continuously, had given me more to say than I thought. This has been a little project that has become a very big project. Working on that most days has left me with less time to make blog contributions and I felt I needed to explain that.

The good news is that I am getting close to the end of this particular little enterprise and I will have more to say, and more to post regularly soon. Your patience is appreciated.

Talk soon.


13 comments:

Kansas Sky said...

I love your tips. Thrilled to hear there are more forthcoming!

Kathy said...

Oh, I hope this could mean another book!

KathrynT said...

That length looks cute on her. The longer length looked cute on you.

Sajidah said...

That dress looks really comfortable. Love the shoes!

Martha said...

I love the dress and your color choice is fabulous! Keep sewing.

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous dress; I wonder why I don't have anything like that to pop on through the summer??

ceci

Mads said...

I do hope you will be releasing another book. I have your first one and read it often. You have a lovely way with words.

LaBajista said...

I really like the shoes! Also the dress is great and i love the color too. I really would like to make a shirt dress. How would you rate this pattern for the (way) less experienced sewist? Alternately, might anyone know of a shirt-dress pattern geared towards advanced beginners, or at least one with very explicit instructions? Thanks..

Barbara said...

LaBajista I would definitely rate this as a dress for advanced beginners. There are buttonholes but the shapes are easy, a really lovely pattern.

Marcia Swanston said...

I'm happy to see your review of this pattern. It looks great on you and I will happily sew it up now. I agree that many of the new Jalie releases are very useful and interesting. Congratulations on your retirement! I'm doing the same as of July 1.

Su said...

The dress looks so nice. When I saw this pattern I really liked the look. so many great things in it loose fit, easy to sew but not boring or dull - the details make it special

Jan said...

Wow. I love the dress on you, both belted and unbelted. Love the new red hair! Love, love, love the cork bag. And you're right, simple is more classic and looks more expensive. I'm off to find some cork fabric..., and an autobody shop to look for headliner foam?!? :)

And I love your shoes! By any chance, were they a recent purchase, and if so would you mind sharing from where?

Barbara said...

Thanks Jan, those are old shoes I am afraid, bought at some outlet I think. sorry about that.