Sewing the Friday Pattern Company Davenport Dress
The Davenport Dress by Friday Pattern Company
Hi everyone, my name’s Gemma, also known as @thedalythread on Instagram.
I was really happy to be asked by Oyin of Lush Cloth to do a blog for her, and believe me when I say that it took me ages to decide what to make and which fabric to choose!
I finally decided on the Davenport dress by Friday Pattern Company using the Strawberry Fields rayon by Rifle Paper Co. I had admired this fabric for a long time and had previously bought myself 1.5m of it from another shop. Oyin offered me 2m of fabric, so altogether I had enough to make the dress. This fabric is narrow (114cm) so 3.5m are required.
I made the size Medium even though most of my measurements fell into the Large size (B:37, W:31, H:41) as I didn’t want it to be too oversized. It actually fits perfectly around the bust and I definitely wouldn’t want it to be larger around the waist, as the ties are already needed to cinch it in.
The construction of the bodice is really enjoyable and super neat. The burrito method is used to enclose the seams and it just means that the final finish is really clean.
The yoke on the back bodice was calling out to have a ruffle added to it, so that’s what I did! I cut a piece about 1.5x the width of the bodice by about 8cm wide, knowing that it would be folded in half. I gathered it along the length and added it in as I was piecing the yoke and lower bodice together. It was really simple and I think it looks really cute. It just adds a bit of interest to the back of the dress.
I really want to be able to wear this dress all year round, so I shortened the sleeves to just above the elbow. I’m hoping this means it will be a little cooler to wear in the summer and I can put a cardigan over the top in the winter.
The pattern suggests that you need four panels for the bottom ruffle, but I actually used two wider pieces as there was no way to fit on four pieces on the amount of fabric I had. I think it turned out exactly the same, which is great.
The only confusing bit of the pattern that I found (and bear in mind this may be me misreading things), but it didn’t say which side of the fabric to attach the waist tie channel – I had to refer to the diagrams which stated it was the wrong side of the channel to the right side of the skirt (which makes sense!). Other than this though, the pattern is fab and with all of Friday Pattern Co patterns, the instructions are wonderful.
So on to the fabric…I’ve never used one of the Rifle Paper Co, rayons before, but I definitely would again! It’s lovely and drapey with it being a rayon/viscose, but it has a nice weight to it, which means it’s more stable to sew with and you can cut it out easily. I didn’t find it pulled much at all when I was unpicking, and it didn’t fray much either. Result!!
The design is printed on, but the colours are so saturated that the design comes through a bit to the other side so it’s not completely white on the reverse. I don’t normally wear much black at all, but I absolutely love this design and it will go with lots of other colours in my wardrobe.
All in all, I feel this pattern and fabric are a match made in heaven, and I will definitely be making more Davenport dresses in the future!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this review, and that it’s encouraged you to try this pattern. I would highly recommend Rifle Paper Co fabrics as the quality is just supreme!
Thanks again to Oyin for asking me to guest blog, and I hope you’re all safe and well!
Take care,
Gemma x
There are some lovely Rifle and Paper fabrics we stock on the website similar to the one Gemma used in her blog. Follow the link below.