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Simplicity 2444 maxi dress featuring John Kaldor

Sunday, May 25

Don't you just love summer? I love summer, a lot. When summer comes around, everyone seems genuinely happy. People smile at you on the road, you get to eat ice cream without worrying about getting a cold, the sun is still out at 9pm, and more specifically, I get to wear maxi dresses without heavy coats for protection.

Last week I had a situation regarding an overlocker I bought, which left me really upset, so on Friday I found myself at Goldhawk road, where I spent more money than I wanted to, and got even more upset. In the evening I decided to sew something, to take my mind off unhappy thoughts. I have been craving maxi dresses lately, especially as Summer is just round the corner, and decided to use the bodice of Simplicity 2444.


This pattern does not need any introduction I think, as there have been so many versions on so many blogs. I made this dress about 2 years ago when I just had Noah, and even though I wanted to make more versions, I never got round to it. 

I used a John Kaldor fabric I bought from Abakhan in Manchester when I spent a week there in February. I bought it on sale for about £2.50 or £3. I bought 3 metres, and I always knew I wanted to make a maxi dress from it. I have been slowly collecting John Kaldor fabric, and I really love the quality of their fabrics. 


Since I had sewn this pattern before, there were not any nasty surprises in store for me. It was a pretty easy make. Stress free, which was exactly what I wanted. I did not make any changes to the pattern, but for the skirt, I just used two rectangles, each 40" long, with the width the full width of the fabric. Not very original I know, but I did not want to complicate my sewing.


The weather was really nice today, and we had my younger brother and a few friends round ours and I just had to wear my new dress. 


I can assure you I was not drunk in this picture. My friend, who is an expert at mixing cocktails, made some using Plymouth Gin, which I had never had, but which I now like....a lot.




Hopefully my overlocker situation resolves itself this week and I can sew more stuff. I used French seams on this dress, but that takes a lot of time and having the overlocker will speed things up for me. I have a major event to attend on Saturday 31st, and I wanted to use my overlocker to sew my dress. I now have to find a backup pattern, to use if my overlocker does not get fixed in time.

On the house front, we have seen a house we REALLY like, so fingers crossed they accept  our offer.

What summer sewing have you been/plan on doing?I know maxis are the way forward for me this summer ( as always).

22 comments:

  1. Love the dress-your ingenuity and skill paid off. The fabric is gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks Robin. The fabric was such a steal as well.

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  2. I love your dress and how you turned it into a maxi!

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  3. You look awesome! Fantastic fabric choice (:

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  4. Your dress looks fabulous. Well done!

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  5. This is gorgeous! What a great idea for a maxi dress, and one I am going to steal! Good old S2444, this pattern is just so fab. Great minds clearly do think alike, because I'm making a maxi dress at the minute. It's By Hand London's Anna, which makes me think of the gorgeous maxi Anna you made. I hope you get your overlocker fixed, they're amazing when they work, but a pain in the bum when they don't.

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  6. I love it - the print is great and the colour looks amazing on you! Perfect summer dress.

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  7. Perfect! I love maxi dresses and the fabric is fabulous. The colour really suits you too.

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  8. Wahou, this maxi-dress is really great on you, I love the fabric.
    I'm crossing fingers too for the house you saw !
    For the summer, I'm planning a nettie maxi dress and a few maxi wrap dresses but as the weather is bad, i'm not in the mood for them yet.

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  9. Oh this is so beautiful and just perfect! Looking so beautiful too!

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  10. rectangles are the bomb, especially when they contribute to a knockout like this. good luck on your overlocker... we all need machine elves who will check our machines while we sleep!

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  11. I love that fabric and it looks amazing on you. :) I hope your overlocker starts working again.

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  12. yay! You're back & sewing! I love this dress - you look gorgeous in it!

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  13. Wow! This looks amazing! I never would've thought to turn this pattern into a maxi, but it's completely awesome! Also... I'm going to come right out and say it- your brother is a hunk!

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    1. Hahahahaha. I'll make sure to tell him Sonja.

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  14. Really cute dress and a great color on you!

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  15. Such a beautiful dress Dibs! The colour and print are gorgeous on you and perfect for this style of maxi. What's the news on the overlocker??

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  16. I love this dress. Super cute! and yes I love love love the european summer. It is often short, but I appreciate summer a lot more now (I am Australian..... so my perception of the seasons is a little different). Love the maxiness!

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  17. I like the dress and the fabric used for it. Since you used a fabric with a detailed print, I would say you are allowed to use the two rectangles method (it always works for me =) )

    https://sewmodiste.wordpress.com

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  18. I love the fabric and the demure neckline, you look gorgeous.

    Well done!

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