Elizabeth Suzann Georgia top & dresses

I made the Florence pants first and then this top.  It was a very fast and easy make.

On this I wasn't sure how much ease I would like so I traced the OS (one size) and OSM (one size minus).

I made up the OSM first in a piece of linen I had leftover, from Miss Matabi's online shop.  This linen is oddly textured and shiftier than I expect linen to be.  It is really beautiful but might be a bit lighter than the model version.

Here it is on the model:

And here it is on me:

My first try-on made me think the arms were too tight.  There's a pulling from the neck down the sleeve which I think feels very apparent in my linen.  So I went and made the short version of the dress in OS.  I used a light, almost flannel rayon from Guthrie & Ghani, a soft feeling teal fabric with gold lurex stripes.  It is too big.  I'm not sure it's too big in a bad way.  The fabric has the most beautiful drape but I was moving house and gave it away to a pregnant friend before I could even take photographs so you have to take my word for it.

This was an excuse to now make the midi dress in OSM in a mystery weave from Nepal.  This was loomed in smaller villages, and is either silk, wool or hemp because that's why I bought it, but I don't remember which...it has a kind of sticky feel to it, and is quite gauzy and a relatively light weave. 

I find it totally amazing that a dress which is a sack, and that currently takes me 45 minutes to sew - can be so flattering.  However, the length on this means I can't really walk with my normal stride, so I would shorten it 4" in future.  Other people have added a slit, which seems like the other thing to do.  I ended up taking my seam ripper to this and creating a slit, because I am a strange creature and tend to love my most raggedy creations, I now love this dress.

AND having proven that the OSM was the right size, I shortened the (already rather short) dress pattern by an inch and made one out of this LONG HOARDED piece of light pink Valentino wool crepe.  I'm trying so hard to use up my hoarded fabrics in sensible ways.  This piece of fabric has been not quite large enough for many projects - it was almost...so many different dresses. Or tops.  Etc.  This is the last thing I made prior to moving and my sewing machines are going into hibernation, so it had a lot of meaning attached to it other than the fabric from 2013.  A lesson cropped up: the fabric has travelled around the world with me so many times that it now has holes in it, as you can see by my Fashionable Patch on the back of the dress.  If I need a reminder to use my fabrics and not hoard them, I think this is it.  Initially this textured wool weave had quite a bit of drape...but after washing it's shrunk even smaller and become cozy rather than drapey.  This dress is amazing. The weirdly lit sunset photos may not show it, but it feels like a hug. 

I decided to expand the potential and made the short version in a heavy viscose.  I wanted to see what happened with knits. I don't really like this actual fabric, so this version is for a friend - though I'm really happy with the pairing of the heavy viscose and the short pattern.  It became longer due to the added weight. I stabilised the shoulders with some twill tape in the seam. Next will be to add pockets....

 

Initially I wasn't sure how many Georgia dresses my wardrobe could tolerate (any? lots?).  It seems like I need more long ones.