Is Gingham too Girly?

Full-Skirted Dress

from the

Great British Sewing Bee's

Sew Your Own Wardrobe

So I was given a copy of the Great British Sewing Bee's second book a little while ago. Sadly it's undeservedly sat on my shelf as I have been busy completing my first year as newly qualified teacher. I'm currently recovering from some pretty major hip surgery and I am finally feeling ready to pick up my scissors and pins and get sewing.....and oh how I have missed it!

What was great about this book was the hard copy of the pattern was included. However, two patterns were on each sheet, this meant you had to trace and cut out your own pattern to avoid damaging the other. This is time consuming and boring but actually makes the book cost affective if you have the time to trace, cut and use more than one pattern. 

Once the pattern pieces were ready, I decided to copy the gingham look that the book showed. I'm slightly weary about gingham... as a school teacher I see lots and lots of pale blue gingham school dresses but I also really like the print and a girl cant wear florals 7 days a week!

The dress was simple to make, having not sewn for a while and on some heavy duty pain killers (this was sewing 3 weeks post surgery, it came together nicely. 

Pretty sleeves 

Favourite thing: I love the little cap sleeves they are fluttery and flattering. 

Look closely and you can see where the biased binding has shrunk.

Lesson for next time: When I washed the dress the biased binding, which I used to hem the skirt, shrunk slightly. It's not really noticeable and I will continue to wear it. However, I have now begun washing all my fabric before using it (I realise I should have started doing this along time ago).

Rocking those crutches!