Sarah from French Navy Now has that kind of effortless style that simply leaves me swooning, so I was excited to try to sew one of her patterns for the first time recently.

Enter the Forsythe Dress.

Princess seams. Interesting button-up back. Perfect canvas for stripe play. Pockets. Sleeve cuffs.

In other words, what’s not to love?

This was one of those projects where the fabric was king.

I fell for this copper-mustard-silver toned handwoven ikat from Blackbird fabrics the moment I first saw it. Being more black-toned than navy-toned, it is is slightly outside my usual colour palette but it was so irresistible I didn’t think twice.

I had originally been dreaming of a jumpsuit for this ikat but I somehow failed to notice when ordering it that it’s pretty narrow. After pre-washing, it had shrunk to only 1 metre wide and about 2.7m long, so my jumpsuit plan wasn’t going to come to fruition.

The potential for stripe play then made me think instantly of the Forsythe Dress – a pattern I have had my eye on for a while now but had yet to see the perfect fabric match.

Well, here it was!

My Forsythe Dress

My Forsythe Dress is a size large. The size chart had me in a Medium at the bust and between a L and XL at the hips/waist. Based on the finished measurement chart, I settled on the L, which I think works quite nicely.

The only other change I made was to automatically lengthen the skirt by 2 inches, as the dress as designed seemed a bit too short for my personal preference.

I really adore the overall aesthetic of this dress. I love the way that even though its quite oversized, the effort is put into still making a princess seamed front bodice. The stripe play and lines that it creates are fantastic.

I also really like the use of the button-down back. Again, little details that just look so damn pretty!!

These buttons were rescued from a dress shirt of hubby’s which no longer fit.

For the record, my buttons are all fake – no actual buttonholes have been created in the sewing of this dress!.

A bit of a pin test made it clear that I didn’t need the buttons to pull on the dress, so I went for the simplest of solutions here.

I found the Forsythe Dress pretty simle and easy to put together. The instructions are photo-based, rather than diagrams, which isn’t my personal preference, but I still didn’t have any major issues .

I was slightly bamboozled at doing the neck binding, especially at the button placket but was able to muddle though – more or less!

On that note, the neck is finished with self bias binding, rather than a facing, which is a huge plus as I find this much neater and easier to wear. There’s nothing worse than a facing which gets creased and twisted out of place or just doesn’t look as neat as it should!

The only change I will make the next time I sew the Forsythe Dress is to make the pockets a tad deeper, they are a little on the shallow side for me.

What can I say, evidently I like to really dig my hands into there!

Forsythe Dress vs Demeter Dress

Last year, I got caught up in the hype of buying the newly released Demeter Dress by Anna Allen Clothing as I just loved the way it looked as a cool oversized casual dress.

In the end, I was pretty disapointed by the Demeter Dress but the Forsythe Dress is actually ticking pretty similar boxes for me. Effortless, sightly oversized, gathered dress with bias bound neckline.

The similarities are pretty obvious.

But, the Forysthe Dress is, in my humble opinion, just a whole lot more interesting. The stripe play, the rear buttons, the look of the pockets. It’s oversized casual simplicity but elevated.

In other words, I can see the Forsythe dress becoming a major summer dress go-to for me in the future!

Which, evidently, brings me to another style insight.

For so many years I felt as though dresses had to be cinched in at the waist to ‘suit me’. Now, I’m not sure if comfort is winning out in my old age or if it’s a more meaningful style shift, but it’s feel nice to feel comfortable and put together even if my waist is happily chilling in plenty of ease.

I appreciate with the Forsythe Dress the fact that it can be loose while still having interesting details – that boxy does not necessarily equate to plain and uninteresting.

OK, ok I’m probably done with the gushing about my Forysthe Dress.

For today, at least…

But did I mention how awesome this ikat is?

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.