In the Folds Elwood dress for Scottish Frocktails

Sep 13

Sep 13 In the Folds Elwood dress for Scottish Frocktails

I bought the pattern for this dress ages ago. I really enjoy In the Folds patterns, and for a long time I would have said the Rushcutter dress was my favourite pattern, but some time ago she decided to focus on on the teaching aspects of pattern making and turned the company into a subscription with support and a social group. By this point I was already too experienced for that to really be of interest to me, but I still loved the patterns that came with the subscriptions. Some of them, including this one, the Elwood, were eventually released as standalone patterns and that's when I bought it. And then left it sitting printed out for actual years!

With my friends at Frocktails. Note my scruffy shoe choice!

But then Scottish Frocktails, a big party/ball for dressmakers, came along and I needed a something that was a bit special without being 'occasion'. Apart from the fact that I probably don't have the skills, I just have no use for a chiffon evening gown in my life!

This fit the bill pretty well, because it's a bit sepecial, and a very involved sew. The skirt is made out of six panels, and the top out of TEN and every single one of them is French seamed. It did take me a long time to do, on top of by my already super slow sewing standards. There is a view with lantern sleeves, and a sleeveless one, I made the sleeved one, as that’s very much the special thing about this. The sleeves are SO big!

The instructions are excellent, as you would epect from In the Folds, but nevertheless quite headscratchy. I still managed to get myself very confused, and ended up having to unpick the front skirt because I’d accidentally flipped the side fron panels (easy to do when your fabric has no right side) and also managed to attach the pockets (yes there are pockets) to the wrong side of those pieces. The way the neck and back sleeve piece are the same also took me ages to figure out, but I went very slowly and just trusted the process going step by step and got away without having to unpick anything there.

I chose an African wax because I love African wax and wanted to represent it at the frocktails, and also because I already had this 6 yard length sitting around - the only thing in my stash I had enough of. It's a bit better quality than most of wax cotton you can buy, it's lighter and finer, and less waxy. It's actually perfect for this pattern which does need some structure for the lantern sleeves, but also some drape for the skirt.

I went for a size F, my usual in the Folds size, with no adjustments. I wonder if I could maybe have gone down a size for a fitted bodice, it certainly is huge, although that is kind of the style!

All the photos for this post are by the amazing Frocktails photographer! Some with my frien ds, and us walking the catwalk at the event together. Ask me about their dresses if you like!