Did you know that Minerva now offers KITS?! This was my first opportunity to work with one of them, and it was such a great experience. Minerva starts by pairing patterns with ideal fabrics. Then, they send a nice little package straight to your door, complete with everything you need to make the garment you’ve chosen. In this case, my kit arrived with a lovely paper copy of the Tilly and the Buttons Indigo Dress pattern, the exact amount of fabric needed to sew the dress, interfacing, needles, and matching thread. A beautiful fabric and pattern pairing, made as simple and convenient as possible!
This dress was a pleasure to sew. Of course, with everything arriving together and perfectly matched, I was set up for success from the start. Art Gallery Fabrics are some of my favorites to work with, and this one held up. This rayon was as friendly to sew with as rayon can be, and feels lovely to wear! It has just the right amount of swoosh and drape for the gathered skirt of the dress, and is wonderfully breathable and soft against the skin.
This was my first time using a paper pattern in quite some time, and I hesitated a little about whether or not to cut into it directly or trace it off. When I first started sewing and worked primarily with paper patterns, I would always trace them off, wanting to make sure to preserve every size of the pattern in case my size were to fluctuate in the future! While my shape and size are certain in flux right now, I anticipated that my current size is about the largest I would make in this dress, so I felt good about cutting directly into the pattern and moving forward. Luckily, if I do need to size down in the future, the smaller sizes I may eventually be interested in are nested inside the size I’ve cut!
One of the things I love the most about this pattern is the frill detail option at the waist! I’ve always found it to be such a charming addition to an otherwise simple and easy silhouette, and fully intended to incorporate that detail into the pattern should I ever sew it up myself. As you can see here… I changed my mind at the last second! I knew that in my current shape, I may want to belt the waist of the dress to add a little definition and highlight the baby bump. I had a feeling that without a belt, this style of dress may look awfully tenty on me right now. The extra bulk of belt-over-frill was not something I was interested in, so I ultimately decided to opt out of the frill this time around. However, I’m definitely looking forward to trying it in the future!
When I first sewed this dress up enough to try it on, I was very glad I’d opted for the no frill, belted option. As I stood in front of the mirror, I found I definitely preferred the definition added by the belt to the overall shapelessness I saw reflected back without the belt added. However, as I looked through these photos after taking them, I was very surprised to find that in photos (and the unintended video recording here or there!), I actually really liked the dress worn both ways. I’m glad to feel good in both options – I have a feeling that once the true summer heat comes into play, combined with my third trimester baby bump, I may not want anything up directly against my skin, like the waist of the skirt when belted.
Another pleasant surprise for me was how much I absolutely loved the color of this fabric in person! While the color scheme is clear even online, I was really happy with how much I loved this deep teal tone paired up against my skin. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been interested in exploring my seasonal color palette over the past year, and while I admittedly have not learned enough to have even fully identified my own palette at this point, I feel pretty confident that this shade of teal is in there somewhere. Between the warm, deep tones of this main background color and the bright pops of color of the floral design, I find this fabric to be even more “me” than I originally expected.
If you’re at all inclined to create a garment with an excellent pattern and fabric pairing, in the setting of absolute convenience of delivery, I’d highly recommend trying out a kit from Minerva. They’ve put together so many – from dressing gowns to jeans, winter coats to sundresses, the options go on! The fabric pairings are beautiful and high quality – Art Gallery, Lady McElroy, Liberty, you name it. Minerva also carries a large selection of patterns, so you will find selections form both Indie designers and Big 4 available. I truly enjoyed the experience of sewing up my first garment from a curated kit, and it will not be my last!
Dress: handmade by me
Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons – Indigo Dress
Fabric: Minerva – Art Gallery Fabrics Rayon Challis Fabric
Key Ingredients:
Brother XR9500PRW Sewing Machine
Brother 1034D Overlocker
Dahle 36×48 Self-healing Cutting Mat
Prym Sewing Machine Needles
Vilene Vlieseline Superlight Iron On Interfacing
Gutermann Sew All Polyester Sewing Thread in 870 and 800
Thanks for reading my thoughts on this pattern! The fabric, notions, and pattern used for this post were provided to me as a kit by Minerva in exchange for photos of my finished garments and a review of my experience with the kit, to be posted on their website. All words and opinions expressed throughout this post are my own, as always. Links provided throughout this post may be affiliate links – if you choose to purchase any products through these links, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. This simply helps me justify the costs of my sewing habit and the time it takes to share it with you!! Happy Sewing!
- XX Elizabeth
