Hello! I am delighted to be back on the Backstitch blog sharing my recent make, the Pauline Alice Lliria Dress. I have always loved the aesthetic of Pauline Alice patterns, and with warmer weather hopefully on the way, I couldn’t resist sewing up a dress!

The Lliria Dress is a semi-fitted wrap dress. It has a 1940’s feel to it, with beautiful, gathered details in the bodice, as well as a shaped waistband. I decided to make the dress with short sleeves and a short skirt as I prefer a short skirt to a midi skirt for this style of dress. One thing I particularly like about this pattern, is that the underskirt wraps right around, and is secured with a button to the waistband. This is great for me, as my daily life sees me running around on a bike after three busy children, and I prefer skirts that are not at risk of getting blown open in the wind!

To make this dress I decided to use a fabric that I have been wanting to sew with for a very long time. I love all of Atelier Brunette’s fabrics, but their double gauzes have always been a favourite. I chose the ‘Amarante’ colourway for this dress as I thought it would work well in the spring, but will also be wearable in the autumn and winter months.

In terms of measurements, I fall into size 38 for my bust, 40 for my waist and 42 for my hips. Looking at the finished garment measurements, I decided that size 40 would work fine for my waist and hips, but I thought I would grade down to a size 38 for my bust, to ensure a good fit in that area. The only issue is that the sleeves are a little on the tight side, so next time I think I will trace out a straight size 40 and do a small bust adjustment instead.

The pattern is rated intermediate in terms of difficulty, and it was definitely quite an involved make. There is a lot of gathering involved, and the bodice particularly requires very careful attention to the detailed pattern markings and notches to achieve a neat result. This make certainly saw quite a lot of my seam ripper, but I am really pleased with the finished dress.

Many of the seams, including the bodice back and waistband were finished by hand, which I love as I think it looks beautiful and neat. I love the curved button closure at the front of the dress, and in the end I decided to make covered buttons as I didn’t want to detract from the beautiful, asymmetric lines of the dress.

The only issue I had was with the hem of the dress. This was particularly fiddly to sew and ended up being a little uneven at the front. I decided to unpick the hem and redo it, after leaving the dress to hang for a couple of days.

This was definitely one of the more detailed, involved projects that I have worked on. It took quite a long time to make up, and required a lot of focused, slow sewing. However, I absolutely adore the end result and will definitely be making it again. I can see it looking beautiful in one of Backstitch’s gorgeous floral viscose fabrics. I cannot wait to wear it as soon as the warmer weather does decide to arrive!

Pattern: Pauline Alice Lliria Dress (sorry, now out of stock!). Great similar alternatives would be the Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges Dress for a beautiful buttoned down dress, or or the Closet Core Elodie for a pretty wrap dress!

Fabric: Atelier Brunette Stardust Double Gauze in ’Amarante’ (this has literally just sold out too, sorry!). We have lots of other great alternatives in though - choose from any of our double gauzes, or one of the Atelier Brunette viscoses would work an absolute treat!

Size: Bust: 34”, Waist: 29”, Hip: 39”; Size 38 Bust graded to Size 40 waist and hip sewn

Adjustments: None made apart from grading between size 38 and 40

Notes on Construction: Made view A skirt, with view B sleeves. Lots of lovely details including hand sewing. Take care when hemming!

Notes on Future Makes: Sew a size 40 with an SBA to allow for more room in the arms.

About Amelia: Amelia is a sewist, vlogger and fabric lover who lives in London. She loves sewing for herself and her family.

Instagram: @sewamelia

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA0UXjwKDppvgItk3zuUP-A