I was recently lucky enough to be a pattern tester for Debby of Specks & Keepings. I noticed the dress on instagram, and as I’d just started making my Nova coat (which I still haven’t quite finished sewing yet) I knew I was ready to try out a dress.

And oh my, I love it. I loved the process of making the dress, working with the fabric, and thinking through the pattern.

It really is a wonderful pattern - easy to work with, fabulous little details, and what a sweet shape.

I feel like a young girl wearing this dress, with the (high) waist tie and the just-above knees length. So fun. I loved playing with the fabric; I hope I got the mix & match working well.

Debby’s pattern has fabulous pockets, but I haven’t added any on mine as I’ve run out of the pink / purple fabric, and didn’t want to cover that up with blue. But I’ll be able to add them later if I want. I mean - I possibly will quite need pockets.

When I ran into my dad in town today, and asked him if he liked my dress. He said yes, but then asked me where the pockets were. So, even men want pockets! My dad and son then had a lengthly conversation about the pockets on their pants and the size and shape they like them.

So, it really is lucky for you that the Rose Dress pattern has pockets. They’re deep enough for collecting rocks at the beach, leaves or feathers, or carrying your necessities around town (phone, glasses, snacks and things like that), or putting your hands in when taking photos and not quite knowing what to do with your hands.

As I’ve been making this dress I’ve taken photos along the. For no reason other than I could, being in the studio space and having access to a white photo-backdrop, and enough table space for doing it. I also wore the dress before I’d fully finished it; so some photos of when I went away with Sam for our 20th wedding anniversary.

I printed the pattern on my Munbyn thermal printer. But this time I used the flat paper to print the pattern, rather than the paper roll as I did previously. It was much easier to work with; so I suggest getting that instead. (As a note I used the paper roll this past week to print a label for packing an order, and I think it really would be great for that ongoing).

I machine sewed most of this dress, but also added some hand stitching details - as suggested by the pattern. I actually think you could sew this whole dress by hand, which would be lovely for those of you not wanting to pull out your machine, or working through a hand-sewing phase of life.

You might notice in some photos the blue & white striped fabric is in the front panel and the front ribbon. I cut the panel out and swapped to the dark blue as I felt it looked better that way. I left a teeny bit of the lighter blue stripe in the front (you can see in the final image at the top), as I sort of stitched it while still in place. I think - after seeing the photos - that I might swap that blue stripe for the last smallest scrap of the purple that I still have. I think I’ll like that better.

This means that this only one panel of the blue striped fabric, and the binding at the back waist. Sort of fun detail. Now I have to decide what to make with the rest of that fabric - I think it’ll be great for lining of a tote bag or zippered purse or something. The more I look at it, the less I think I’ll wear it as clothing.

The details for the Rose Dress are:

Specks & Keepings Rose Dress pattern (the pattern hasn’t yet been released; so I’ll update this blog post when it’s available. I suggest that you join S&K newsletter or Instagram, so you can find out when it’s ready). I’ve already picked out the fabric I’ll be using for my next make. The pattern suggests to use gauze, and I have some of my much-treasured Nani Iro fabric that I’ve saved for ‘just the right project’ for more than 12 years.

Next time I will also follow suggestions from the pattern, and make the bust a little bit longer. I think with the gauze it will sit differently and need that extra bit of length. Maybe only 2cm at the most, as one of the great things about this dress is the high waist - that ‘princess dress’ line. Super flattering shape.

I might also make the option of having the skirt from one piece of fabric, rather than panels. The pattern has options for two different bodice / sleeve types (the one I’ve used, or a sweet little puff sleeve) and two different skirts (this one with panels or an option of same fabric - no panels).

Fabric is the same blue I’ve used for my Nova coat, which is from Merchant & Mills, with some delicious fabric from Japan (but it’s sort of like an Indian khadi fabric actually). I wish I had more of it, but this is the last of it all. The blue & white stripe is also some vintage Japanese cotton that I got from a local shop. I was planning on making the whole dress out of this, but decided against it as I started cutting out the pattern.

I stitched details with Sashiko thread in pinks, from my collection I brought home from Japan. I got them from this shop - if you’re heading to Kyoto. The pattern suggests this, as well as some other lovely little tips. I truly love patterns and projects that go beyond and share other things to add your sewing knowledge.

The pattern was printed with the Munbyn ink less thermal printer, which I wrote about here. You can get 12% off any products on the Munbyn site by using code BLOG12OFF (valid for Canada, Australia, UK and US).