This was written by Angela from Sake Puppets for the Miss Matatabi Maker series.

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For this month’s make, I had a vision. I wanted a little black grunge dress, to wear with motorcycle boots and red lipstick, for the raising of all kinds of hell.

Turns out, I may have missed the grunge mark a bit. So fine, I swapped my boots for satin sling-backs and had a dance party in my living room instead.

My early grungy vision included a babydoll-style dress with a flirty skirt in black. Last month I fell in love with the cotton-rayon fabric I used for my brunchin’ dress, so I was excited to sew with that style of fabric again (found here). It is just so dang soft and sews like a dream. For a pattern I went with one of my favorites, the By Hand London Elisalex. I gathered the skirt instead of using pleats, and simply extended the sides of the skirt straight to the hem for more fullness.

Because of the diagonal print, I took a little extra care while cutting out my bodice pieces. I cut some on the bias, and cut in a single layer to make sure the printed lines were all running the way I wanted them to.

I self-lined the bodice but to keep the dress cool for summer left the sleeves unlined. To finish the inside I just turned the seam allowance under and hand-stitched the lining down around the armscye and waistline to keep it in place. It was a lot of hand work, but I like those kinds of details. And, I’m a freak who loves hand-sewing.

The lining pieces were cut without any attention paid to the diagonals or the bias, and you can see how differently the diagonals meet at the seams compared to the outside of the dress. Not bad, but worth the extra effort when cutting, I think.

True confession: I had a tragic three days where this dress sat on my sewing table as I wept, the hem much too short for public decency. I swore. I went through a couple of stages of grief. And then I unpicked the entire hemline and contemplated my options. Turns out a rolled hem foot is an amazing discovery, and saved my rump by adding a good 1/2″ to 5/8″ of length to my skirt.

Hurrah! Although not quite the throwback-grunge dress I had in mind, I am quite pleased with the result. Does this ever happen to you, where a project evolves as you sew? Do tell!

Thanks for letting me share! Until next month Matatabis, let the summer hell-raising commence…

Thank you Angela! Connect with Angela on her blog, instagram, facebook, pinterest.