As soon as I saw her I knew it was meant to be. You know when you see a pattern and just KNOW you are going to love it. Everything about it says yes , that is my style. Not just linen, but a gorgeous rust colored linen. Cute little pin tucks, tick. Excellent sleeve coverage with button action, tick tick. Stylish, but not really trying too hard, BOOM tick!
This is the Helena dress, from UK based Sew Me Something. The pattern comes as a paper & PDF pattern, in sizes UK 8-22. For reference I made a 20, the fit is definitely relaxed, even the sleeves, which as you darlings know, is my nemesis!
I brought this gorgeous Merchant & Mills linen a wee while ago, intending to make a pair of pants to go with this top. The pants pattern I ordered took an AGE to arrive, and in the meantime that minx Helena caught my eye!
I have a long standing love affair with linen, particularly in “autumnal” hues. When I met my now husband, my absolute fav item of clothing was a forest green linen shirt, which I liked to wear with dark brown cords. It was the mid 90’s and I was channeling a slightly grunge (only very slightly mind, ’cause otherwise ewww?!) Seattle look…. (never having actually been outside New Zealand ) My intended described it as “your dressing like a tree phase”. Yes dear reader, astonishingly I did still marry him.
This is a pretty easy sew, I cut out and made up in a weekend (with all the usual mundane weekend “stuff” fitted in comfortably) There is short & long sleeve options, I think the placket and button is really cute and makes the dress slightly different. The instructions are excellent, Jules who designs these patterns also runs sewing workshops, I think her teaching experience shows.
While the fit is relaxed, the darts and gathers mean this doesn’t feel “sack” like, I want to be comfortable, without appearing to drown in fabric. I wont bother with the pockets next time, I never actually put anything (besides hands) in them anyway. I like this with leggings & sandals, in winter jeans and boots will step up. Jules has great personal style, she wears this dress a lot, check out her Instagram feed here
So is this a lasting relationship? Will I make more Helena’s? Absolutely! Next up is a tunic version with shorter sleeves and some pretty stitching around the neckline.
So, are you tempted??
Kristina xxx
Plum Kitchen 