Stylearc Ariana Sundress

 Buying fabric online is fraught with risk and there have been disappointments but despite these I still continue to buy online.  I should learn!  My latest dress is made from one of these failures.  The fabric sourced from Annah Stretton looked like a stunning cotton that would make a lovely floaty top.  What arrived was a mid weight cotton with a raised texture that wrinkled like an old rag when it is washed.  I briefly considered putting it on Trademe but figured, if I didn't like it, no one else would either!  It sat in my stash for a couple of years until it was eventually consigned to muslin status.  I have to say, that this really is no reflection on Annah Stretton because I have bought some lovely fabrics here and at rock bottom prices and this fabric was also cheap at around $5 per metre.

With the start of the warm weather, I was determined to use some of my previously purchased and yet unused patterns.  Stylearc Ariana is one such pattern.  It was hugely popular last summer which prompted me to buy it in a sale.  I didn't think I had any suitable fabric in my stash for this dress and because I am wanting to make from my stash at the moment, I was unwilling to buy fabric to make it.  While looking at sundresses on Pinterest I came across quite a few in linen and heavier weight cottons in a very similar style.  Because my fabric was of a similar weight as my muses I decided that this fabric was destined to become my trial version.  

I can definitely see why this dress is so popular.  It is super easy to make, even taking into account shirring the back which is something I had never attempted before.   The shirring was the most time consuming part of the whole process.  I found the easiest way to do this was to draw lines on the fabric  in chalk before beginning because once this puppy starts gathering up it would be really easy to stitch these crooked.

To line my dress, I used white cotton poplin from my stash because I was a bit concerned that my dress fabric may be a bit scratchy with the texture.  I cut a facing in my dress fabric for the buttonhole placket so the white wasn't visible.  The only change I made was to widen the straps so that they covered my bra straps.  I try to avoid strapless bras as much as possible but the sight of bra straps I find unsightly as well.  This worked really well.  They are still slightly visible but only just.

There are a lot of buttonholes on this dress but for once my machine played the game and I was rewarded with from memory 16 perfectly formed buttonholes.  I was also lucky enough to have 16 coconut husk wood look buttons in my stash and these worked really well with the slightly washed out look of my dress fabric.

For a trial dress in a fabric I didn't like I am ridiculously happy with how this dress turned out!  I have worn this dress so much since finishing it in early December.  Yes, it wrinkles badly when washed but it is relatively easy to iron and does wear rather beautifully.  Would I make this dress again?  Yes, there has been a second version made but I will leave that for another post!

Pattern $20.90
Fabric $12.50
Buttons (from stash) $0.00
Total $33.40