So this is going to be one of those blog posts in which I try to wish summer in The Netherlands into being by sharing summer makes that I have no opportunity to wear in my current drizzly grey climate.

After all, what is a sewist but one who wills things into existence with their own two hands? We are, by definition, creative forces. So why not try my hand at playing god with the weather? Frankly, I have just as much chance of being successful at it as She does.

So, today, I’m sharing a Fiona Sun Dress by Closet Core patterns.

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This is not a new pattern to me. But it is the first time that I’ve sewn it as designed. My previous variations have all been hacks.

There was the one where I really wanted a skirt, so I decided to try turning the Fiona Sun Dress into a two-piece combo.

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And then there were the times when I played with making it a skirt and bodice – once by pleating the skirt and once by gathering it.

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Now, in the name of honesty, I’m going to admit that all of those previous versions of the Fiona Dress are no longer in my closet.

Because, yes, sewing blogs can create something of a distorted picture, giving the impression that everything works. But the truth is that sometimes, even after I’ve finished a garment that I think works, the reality of wearing it in my day-to-day life, can sometimes lead me to a different conclusion.

For example, the gingham one I’m wearing in Santorini above has an evidently terrible fit around the bust. Plus, the cotton was too light to hold it all together. It got binned shortly after the above featured trip to Greece.

The other two versions above are ones that I very much liked but, hey, welcome to the world of someone whose weight fluctuates a lot. At some point in time after I hadn’t fitted into these garments for several years, I decided that I would never fit into them again and got rid of them. And, yes, I regret it. But I simply have no damn space to keep clothes I can’t wear.

And what are regrets anyway? I tend to find regret a particularly un-useful emotion.

So I decided to deal with those regrets in a much more productive way – by simply sewing a new Fiona Sun Dress!

This time, I was in the mood to embrace the Fiona Sun Dress in its original form.

I guess it would have made sense to just make it up in its original form before I started hacking it. But what can I say, the heart wants what the heart wants. There are some things out there that are just more powerful and persuasive than logic. Things that can’t be resisted.

Like my sewing desires.

My Fiona Sun Dress

My Fiona Sun Dress is made out of a linen coupon from Zyga Paris. Because if I am trying to use my god-like powers to will summer into existence, what better textile to recruit to the effort than linen.

If gods exist, surely they spend every fucking moment of their lives swathed in linen, that Queen of Fabrics.

(But I guess in god-universe, the linen doesn’t even wrinkle!)

My Fiona Sun Dress is a size 10 at the bust, graded to a size 12 at the waist, graded to a size 14 at the hips. Classic pear proportions!

This is view A with the straight midi-length skirt and simple straps. I also love the cross-over strapped back of the Fiona Sun Dress, but I was in the mood for something classic.

But, look, here’s one I prepared earlier. The cross-over back is quite spectacular:

I don’t really have much to say about the process of sewing the Fiona Sun Dress. As my fourth attempt at it, it’s a pretty straightforward sew for me at this point!

I would emphasise for anyone out there attempting their first Fiona Sun Dress that it’s worth making a toile of at least the top part of the bodice on your first attempt because getting the fit around the band at the bust is key to the dress looking right and it can be a little tricky the first time around.

Also, don’t try to skimp on the buttons. You need them all. Even if sewing them kind of makes you feel like you have been condemned to an antechamber of hell in which you shall endure the punishment of sewing buttons on forever.

All in all, I am pleasantly surprised by the Fiona Sun Dress in its classic form.

I do have to say that a straight skirt silhouette is not usually what I would gravitate towards it. I think this is why I went with hacking it to have a different skirt for my first attempts.

But in the end, I do kind of love the way this feels and looks.

So, who would have guessed it. Sometimes pattern designers know what they’re doing!

And, to finish things off, I would just highlight the feminist credentials of Fiona. She has some BIG POCKET ENERGY.

Just the way us sewists like it!