We were really excited when we finished our Minna dress for Schultz Apparel that is had such a great sleeve, and then we saw the Begonia! Another great sleeve again! Thank you for Schultz Apparel for including us in the testing team for this new style.
Begonia Dress Details
The Begonia style has a top and dress option. They are a loose fit, with a V-neck at the front and a deep V-neck with gathering at the back. The optional belt pulls the waist create the fitted silhouette and highlights the two tiered ruffled skirt. The silhouette is balanced with a short puffy sleeve.
This pattern is suited for light to middleweight woven fabric such as a cotton, linen, viscose, tencel or polyester.
We made the dress version with the v neck back from the top style as we wanted a easy to wear style and not worry about bra lines being seen.
Micro Dots in Burgundy from Fabric Hoarders
Fabric Hoarders is a small independent fabrics stores based in Echuca which is a small town on the Murray River in North Victoria. They have a wonderful range of cotton and liberty fabrics in their online store. We have partnered with Fabric Hoarders and its business owner Leanne to share with you their great selection of fabric.
For the Begonia dress we chose to use a burgundy and white cotton from the Micro Dots range. It is a sweet print with a repetition of the small white dot.
The fabric print is available in a rainbow of colours on the Fabric Hoarders website and is purchased in 25cm increments.
Check out the cutting video to see how great is to snip and tear this cotton woven fabric.
Constructing the Begonia Dress
The instructions are easy to follow to construct this folky style dress. The tiered skirt is constructed by joining together gathered rectangles. Instead of needing to print pieces for the rectangular pieces, Schultz Apparel gives the measurements for the rectangles. saving on printing and cutting time (not to mention the environment through the saved pieces of paper!).
The sleeve is finished with a double roll hem and the casing for the elastic is made from a bias binding. We folded the ends under and butted them up against each other lining this up with the under arm seam and threaded an elastic through to pull it in around the upper arm.
Finished Begonia Dress
The Begonia dress easily slips over the head and is drawn in at the waist with the tie. It could be worn either way depending on your own style. The weight of the dotted cotton sits well and holds its shape in the gathered sleeve.
Constructing this dress was quite easy as it does not have any difficult fastenings such as a button or zipper. This means it would be great for a beginner sewer.
Photography Notes
Photographer: Erin Ritchie
Model: Lauren Ritchie
Dress Pattern: Bergonia Pattern by Schultz Apparel
Dress Fabric: Micro Dots – Burgundy from Fabric Hoarders
Earrings by: Meli Clay