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Tessuti's Lisa Dress


I'm sure you're familiar with the feeling of finding the dream fabric, the most perfect fabric you've ever seen, it must be in your hot little graspers and then you must stash it away never to be seen again because there is no project perfect enough for it anywhere ever.


In general I've been trying really hard to only purchase fabric when I already know what I want to make with it. I have quite limited storage space and an already large wardrobe of clothing so I'm trying to be hashtag mindful about what I bring into my home. But as soon as I saw this fabric I totally lost my mind.

It's a design by Brook Gossen, sold by my favourites Nerida Hansen Fabrics. I actually first saw the fabric while scrolling through Nerida Hansen Fabrics' tagged Instagram posts shortly after discovering the store, and I was devastated to learn that it had actually been released many months prior and the nature of the store is that fabric designs are produced on short runs and the more popular ones sell out fast. Not to mention they had been experiencing slow restocking issues due to the panini.


So I sighed and tried to move on, but this fantastic fabric stayed in my mind. The deep black with the super-bright and cheerful gridlines was so unique but not too in-your-face; it was subtle in it's gaiety and I couldn't resist. But alas, it was so long out of stock it wasn't even listed on the website any more.


Until, perhaps a year after I'd first seen this design, Nerida Hansen Fabrics announced a clear out of end-of-roll fabrics and remnants. And there it was, in cotton sateen. I added as much as I possibly could to my cart (only two meters) and checked out like my life depended on it.


Then, it arrived. And I was paralysed: what to make with this absolute perfection of a textile?


I wanted to make something where the fabric design could really shine; something with a big skirt perhaps, something simple but interesting. I couldn't settle on anything, so I had to begrudgingly put it into my stash, where it stayed for over 6 months.


I've browsed Tessuti's patterns here and there (they are a local store to me so I'm on their website quite a bit) and back in mid-February they did a 2-for-1 PDF pattern flash sale for 22.2.22. I already had my heart set on the Hilary Top but needed to decide on a second for the deal. As soon as I saw the Lisa Dress everything fell into place. It was perfect!

It has the big, single-panelled skirt I was after, an interesting high-low waist line and button details, plus it has layering potential for cooler weather. It's a winner! Given how much energy I had already put into finding a pattern for this fabric I didn't allow myself the chance to second-guess my decision and I immediately dived into cutting it out.


I didn't make any changes for this pattern, except that I used pre-made bias binding and I didn't have any vilene so I just used thin pieces of iron-on interfacing. I cut out a size Small, but in hindsight I could have gone down a size as it's just a little loose around the bodice. Tessuti have instructions for making this dress as a top which I love the look of so I'll cut out the smaller size when I eventually make one!


The bright colours ended up as a perfect match for some of the Kylie and the Machine labels I have from the two Sweary Sewist packs so I thought I'd add some cheeky touches!

Overall it was a quick and easy make, and even taking lots of time to get everything just right I got it finished in only a couple of days. We had a weekend getaway to the beach planned only a couple of days afterwards and I had a little leftover fabric so I figured I should make myself a fun matching accessory and in only a couple of hours I had a reversible bucket hat! I had this gingham in my stash, and it was a perfect match for the purples in the dress. Fate, I tell you.


If you're after a bucket hat pattern, I loosely based mine off the free Afternoon Hat, or for something with a wider brim, try the Serpentine Hat from Elbe Textiles.








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merlie makes

i like textiles, i like sewing, and i like talking your ear off about my handmade creations

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