A Gingham Davenport Dress

My sewing frenzy continues apace, and today I’m showing off my Friday Pattern Company Davenport dress. The gingham trend has not gone unnoticed and I was pleased that Past Natalie had bought a length of cotton/ polyester navy gingham a few years ago from my old work. I’m trying SO hard to whittle down my stash before I buy new fabric but for some reason I got in the habit of only buying 3m at a time. After pulling out piece after piece and disappointing myself each time with insufficient yardage, I got to the gingham and cheered!

Bodice fitting turned out well except for my partner’s comments!

I cut a 4x and got a bit clever by cutting the back yoke, shoulder yokes and waist casing on the cross. But youse all, there were so many pieces in this pattern I was actually exhausted once I finished cutting out! Not such a bad thing, you know, because I wanted a bit of a challenge. I didn’t make any alterations to the pattern, for this first toile I wanted to see exactly how it would sit on my body. I was pleased to try on the dartless bodice and find that it fit well! Nick did say I looked a little Amish. It’s kind of true that the design is somewhat modest, but I’ve never really sewn anything that showed much skin!

Front view: I adore the sleeves! I’ve been sewing quite a few puffy sleeves lately…

Side view: obligatory “it has pockets!” pose.
Back view: those shoulder frills are adorable.

For my next Davenport, I will be lowering the neckline. I don’t like how it feels on me, and I think a lowered neckline will go some way towards alleviating the “modest” vibe of the dress. I also want a more voluminous skirt. Ideally I would make this out of a rayon because I think the draping would give this dress a more romantic feel. I have my eye on a few rayon prints that I can pair with other smaller prints to contrast on the shoulder yokes, waist casing and skirt frill. I absolutely love how people have pattern clashed on their Davenports.

Ready for a pic-a-nic!

All up, a fun sew with no pattern drafting issues! Now I have my eye on the Wilder gown

1 comment

  1. This dress, & the previous one, are giving me 70s prom dress vibes 😄 I love your confetti wall & bright rug, too!

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