The Jodhpur Collection – Jiffy Dress
Yes, this I my version of Simplicity 1609, Jiffy dress, although mine was not free with Sew as I had to pay half price for it as I am a size 16.
This is part of the Jodhpur Collection, as I brought the fabric back from Rajasthan in March, but I did not buy this in Jodhpur. I bought it in Udaipur, which is the most beautiful city. Please excuse holiday snaps in a sewing blog.
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- Palace
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- Inside Udaipur Palace
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- The lake, with washing!
I went fabric shopping on my own, in the heat of the day when the shops were quiet, so I generally had the full attention of the eager shop assistant, most of whom plied me with pictures of themselves and Judy Dench. She had apparently been shooting a follow up to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in recent days, weeks or months – I was never quite sure! And she had had suits made in their shop, of course!
I wore this dress to work today. I had a meeting with a customer whom I knew was about to go away for 4 weeks… Maybe you can already see what is coming. Now India is a very large country. Initially he told me that he was going to Jaipur, thinking I would have heard of Jaipur. So then I told him that my dress fabric was from Udaipur, and yes, he is really going to Udaipur, but didn’t think I’d have heard of it – let alone be actually wearing a dress made from fabric that I had bought there!
And after all that, I am told that this fabric is, in fact, best quality Egyptian cotton, and just printed in India. The pattern is occasionally uneven, presumably where the printing blocks have joined. I like that fact, if for no other reason that it meant that I didn’t have to be too pedantic about the pattern match. So much for ‘best quality’ though; I have had to buy an underslip to wear with this as it was too thin for a skirt without some form of lining. Underlining would have done the job, but I have another dress that will also benefit from the slip (and has already done so).
It’s taken me a while to make this dress. The front seam was done before I got the overlocker, but the rest of the seams are nicely finished on the overlocker. I was a bit concerned about the fit, although the measurements all indicated that it should be just about OK. And you can’t really try it until the final seam is done, which is the zip Which of course means that the zip is a bit tricky to sew in. I can hear you all thinking that I should have made a muslin / toile, especially as my fabric is irreplaceable. You are probably right, but it fits OK. It does have relatively narrow seams, but most of them are strengthened by having been finished on the overlocker.
The collar fabric came from Backstitch. I bought two shades so that I could see which matched best. And then I probably wasn’t going to put buttons on it, until I found these lovely shell buttons in John Lewis. And as you will see shortly, I am now having to make something else to use some more of the pack of 30 buttons!!
I have a idea for a bag when I get my free bag handles from Love Sewing!
Meanwhile, apparently it’s going to get hot next week and I will need a dress from Udaipur…..
One Week, One Pattern
Me Made May 2016
Me Made May 2015
Simplicity Competition
Sew Over it Patterns
all my own work by ann 