Zadie Zadie Bo-Badie, Banana Fanna Fo Fadie...

Me-my-mo-madie: Zadie!

I think I really like this dress!  Twee fabric and all.  I present my *knit* Zadie dress!  I admit, when Tilly released this pattern earlier this year, I immediately put it on my list of things to make, despite my misgivings about trying another knit dress.  I decided to order the paper pattern because pdf patterns kind of make me crazy, so I had to wait for shipping from the UK, but I'm glad I did.  I then had to talk myself into actually making it.

I present: The Puffy Face of Awesomeness After Dental Surgery.

My previous experience with Tilly and the Buttons patterns has been decidedly mixed.  She drafts for a pretty straight up and down figure, and mine is definitely not, so I always end up having to grade between three or more sizes, which can be dodgy.  Plus almost all her patterns are above the knee lengths, so I'm always having to add a ton of length to get something that I'm comfortable with, and sometimes that skews the design lines.  My Miette was pretty much a disaster, and my Coco dresses are fine pajamas, but not so much for daywear.  I do think the Coco pattern would work well for a top on me, as the fit is good.

I bought this fabric in the fall when I thought that a lot of Monetas and Cocos were in my future.  It is the Market Floral Jersey in Navy from Art Gallery, and is a nice smooth cotton knit.  When those knit patterns didn't work well for me, and I decided I didn't love sewing with knits, I shelved it.  In the meantime, I sort of decided that the fabric was a little too twee for me, and that I might even use it for something for the girls.  It sat at the top of my fabric bin and mocked me all fall and winter.  I had thought it would be best for a summer pajama.

When the Zadie pattern was released, I decided to use this fabric to test the pattern.  As I said, I've had issues with sizing on Tilly's patterns in the past, and I wanted to be sure I'd like the finished product.  In the meantime, while looking at Tilly's Zadie inspiration board for tips and tricks, I found another sewist's Zadie out of a different Art Gallery jersey fabric and fell madly in love with her fabric (and the finished dress).  I found some of the same fabric on fabric.com, and started scheming to make one for my fall rotation.

Please excuse my grimace--smiling is still difficult!

But back to this Market Floral version.  I have lost enough weight that I now fall into one solid size, so I cut a straight size five and hoped for the best.  I figured the loose silhouette and knit fabric would be forgiving if I was wrong about the fit.  It actually is a nearly perfect fit!  I worried that there would be too much fabric in the back and swing out the way that it does on the black and white sample on the pattern packet, but it fits pretty close to my body (but not too close!)  The waist is pretty close to my natural waist and is drafted high to begin with, so there was no problem there.  I added about 3" to the skirt length to make sure my knees are covered.  I did worry that I was going to up the frump factor, but I think it works okay.

Recently, I was remembering a thrifted rayon dress I used to have that was a similar style to this, and even a similar fabric color and print, and missing that dress.  I may have inadvertently re-created it in a knit.  I suppose the subconscious works in funny ways.

So here's what is good:  the raglan sleeves are fabulous.  They fit me well at the shoulders and at the cuff, I have great range of motion.  The length is perfect for my Hobbit arms.  The neckband went on well without a lot of fussing (I generally don't like neckbands because they are fiddly); this one is drafted well.  The design lines of the dress are quite interesting, but it does make for a lot of pieces to cut and keep track of.  The skirt length came out where I wanted it to.

Here's what is tricky: the pockets and the join to the upper bodice is exceedingly fiddly.  Tilly even says in the instructions that it is fiddly, but I had to rip out stitches twice on both sides to get it to join without gaping oddly.  I still didn't get it just right, but by that point, I was starting to worry about distorting the fabric or putting a white run in it, since the print doesn't go to the opposite side of the fabric (the inside of the dress is white).  I'll try to mark the pivot points in a different way next time (I used pins this time, but I think chalk marking would have been better).  I also didn't get the points of the back side bodice and the front pockets lined up perfectly on one side, but the print is so busy, I think it isn't noticeable.  I do think that a lot of the style lines are lost on this print, but I'm okay with that.

One thing I'll probably do differently next time is to use narrow satin ribbon for stabilizing the seams instead of the clear elastic.  I think it might be more comfortable on the waist seams, and possibly easier to work with on all those fiddly joins.  I might also sew the neckband at 7/8" rather than 5/8" for a slightly narrower finished band.

Art Gallery Millie Fleur Line Drawings Jersey.  This is going to be my next Zadie.

I've been casting around for some time for a knit version of my Dottie Angel dresses.  Something that had long or 3/4 length sleeves and was comfortable and flattering without needing a belt for waist definition.  I've been buying my knit dresses from eshakti, and I've been very happy with those dresses, but they are solids, and I'd like a few print knit dresses in my closet.  I think Zadie might be "the one" so to speak.  I find I like to have around three knit dresses in a rotation (my spring rotation now has three).  I'm excited to add the Millie Fleur Zadie to my sewing queue for the fall!

Just the facts:

Market Floral Zadie dress: Art Gallery Market Floral jersey in navy.  Zadie pattern by Tilly and the Buttons.  clear elastic for stabilizer.

Sweater: LLBean (via ebay)

Necklace: gift from my sister

Tights: Foot Traffic signature cotton tights in navy

Boots: KadiMaya boots in gray (via amazon)--these are really comfortable boots!  They have a nice wide toe box.