Heather: Colette Macaron Take Two: Red Linen

Don't you just love it when you find a pattern that you really love and you just want to make one in every colour? A few weeks ago I posted about my first make of the Colette Macaron pattern and I've been bouncing around ideas for other combinations ever since. 

A few weeks ago I picked up two metres of irresistible geranium-red linen/viscose mix fabric from Fabric Corner. My original plan was to make a smart skirt for work and maybe a pretty blouse to go with it for summer with some coordinating fabric. Then the next plan was to make a really smart shift dress and line it with some plain red cotton. Then the new plan was to make a shirt dress for lounging about in the summer. You get the idea- I was kinda struggling with this one. 

After returning to the shop on Wednesday afternoon (not shopping, honest) I had a flash of inspiration when I spotted some coordinating red leafy print fabric  (well I might have bought that...) which I thought would go perfectly with the red linen to make another Macaron Dress... but it didn't. 

And so finally, I resorted to my stash (which is probably where I should have started) and found the leftover chiffon from a dress I made for my Mum a couple of years ago. And it works perfectly.

In terms of construction, I used largely the same sizing from my previous post, just adding a little extra width across the seat for comfort, and adding 2 inches to the hem (following my own advice for a change!). The linen was lovely to work with thanks to the viscose mix and, remarkably, frayed very little during the stitching process which was a bonus. As you can see from the pictures, though, it does still have the creasing properties of linen!

The chiffon was quite hard to work with (if you are aware of a chiffon that isnt, do let me know!) and I don't feel it does the neckline justice as it's not holding the sweetheart shape from the bodice firmly like the cotton did in my previous attempt. I feel a bit like the garment is relying on fitting at the waist to stop the whole thing falling down. With hindsight I perhaps should have used two layers of the chiffon for strength or perhaps cut the yoke section a little shorter to allow for give (the chiffon grew about 1/2" over night once it had been cut). Either way I'm happy with the finished garment and just being picky!

I made the same adjustments to the back too, once again achieving a great fit.

My next version of this dress is going to be a navy check/denim combo for Autumn. Look out for that one later in the year!

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The linen-mix fabric used in this post was kindly provided by Fabric Corner Lincoln, based at The Craftea Sewing Bee Shop, 22-24 Melville Street Lincoln, and at Lincoln's Historic Central Market.