ME2016 Archives - Two Sewing Sisters

Vogue 1723 in georgette from The Fabric Store

Mum has created a stunning long-length version of Vogue 1723 in a stunning georgette from The Fabric Store that was lined in pongee lining to compliment the weight of the outer layer. Do you spot Dad there in his Stakes Day vest? That’s right, what a week, Frocktails was on the evening of Stakes Day, 8 events in 7 days!

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Butterick 6351, McCalls 8213, By Hand London Flora, Know Me ME2016 and Vogue 1723
Fabric: Fabrics from Fabric Lab, Spotlight and The Fabric Store.
Millinery: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery

Looking for more Frocktails inspiration? Check out our 2022 Frocktails outfits here.

Does anyone have a favourite pattern? That they keep sewing over and over again? We go through phases of different patterns depending on the weather, what we are doing for work at the time and our general style “vibe” at the time. Right now, we can’t get enough of Know Me ME2016! The gathered skirt, pockets, shaped bodice and full sleeves… we just love everything about it

Fabric: Minerva Exclusive Wildflower Fusion Cotton Sateen Fabric

We used the Minerva Exclusive Wildflower Fusion Cotton Sateen Fabric – it is the most wonderful whimsical print! The purples and pinks are the most beautiful hue. This is our fourth version of this pattern (did we mention we love it?!). We have made it in a heavier polished cotton fabric and quilting weight cotton, all of which look good, but none as whimsical as this version! Find out more on the Minerva website here.

Pattern: Know Me ME2016

Know Me 2016 is a design by Beaute’ J’adore. The dress is a fully lined bodice that features a shaped tiers with gathers at the front, a high neckline, bust darts, slant pockets, and an invisible back zipper. The dress pattern includes full sleeves in mid or long-length options and elastic at sleeve hem. Find this pattern on the Minerva website here.

Three tips we have for making Know Me 2016:

1 – Skirt Gathering: If you follow Tricky.Pockets on Instagram, you might have seen her make a version of Know Me 2016. In her fitting comments, she mentions that there isn’t very much gathering in the bottom tier of the skirt that she had imagined, and we totally agreed! In this version, we added more fabric to the skirt to ensure it was gathered all around the bottom part of the skirt. As the fabric is 142 cm wide, we just made the most of the width of the fabric, which also saves fabric waste.

2 – Lengthed Bodice: The bodice has a shaped bodice, with the centre front being higher than the back bodice. As we are quite tall, we extended the length of the bodice while still keeping the shape so the bodice finished closer to our waistline.

3 – Sleeve head: This pattern has a snazzy gathered sleeve trick – a sleeve head piece! It is a petal-shaped piece cut on the cross and folded in half. Yes, we know it sounds odd, but it is life-changing for gathered sleeve heads! Tip – we have learnt the hard way, with a couple of broken needles, that overlockers do not love going through 5 layers of fabric when 4 of those layers are gathered! Overlock the sleeve seam (which attaches the sleeve to the lined bodice) and the sleeve head piece separately. You can then stitch the sleeve head onto the bodice – we joined the two together using a zip zag stitch for extra security.