what’s with the ballet pose? I have no idea. Anyway… I have a Marimekko dress. *pinches self* *sits in reverent silence for a minute*
See, to have a Marimekko dress is something I’ve kinda lusted after for a long long time… I grew up in a Scandinavian style house decorated in modern Scandinavian decor by my everything-Scandinavian-loving parents. White walls, those white Danish “UFO” light fittings; lots of pared-back wood and leather, with simple lines, naif flowers sprouting upon our white bathroom tiles and so I’ve been trained to have an affinity for it from a very early age … When we went to Scandinavia I was quite disappointed to not find any Marimekko fabric during our time there, although to be honest it was a gamble since we didn’t actually manage to get to Finland, the home of Marimekko. All through Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland I harboured vain hopes and searched and searched, obviously coming up empty handed, sob. And I’ve never ever seen any for sale here in Perth; so it’s proven to be pretty elusive stuff! But no more! you CAN get Marimekko fabric in Australia! 
Fabric; Marimekko Pieni Unikko 2 in blue/yellow, and is actually from an Australian fabric store, Yulki’s Home Decor in Hobart, Tasmania, believe it or not! I’m a wee bit sad the brick-and-mortar store is not next door to me! but only a wee bit because the store does (obviously) have online sales. Thank goodness for that! It’s a little price-y but well worth it because it really is absolutely beautiful quality, thick and strong, happily not too thick for clothing, and the colours and prints are of course instantly recognisable, modern day classics, so vibrant and optimistic and happy. There’s a pretty good reason why they are perennially popular and still in production after fifty years… everyone loves a happy vibrant print, and I’m pretty sure I will not be able to resist buying more either *blush*. The currently available range can be viewed here. I’m rather excited to see it comes in oilcloth too… mmmmm, raincoat? *plotting plotting*
I’ve kept the selvedge from off the fabric, and have sewn these inside one of the pockets! just because I love information like this… namely: this design is by prominent Finnish designer Maija Isola, and was created in 1964! out by a year but definitely still of my era, haha. “Pieni unikko” translates literally to “little poppy” I’m not sure what KI 2009 means yet, but I’m investigating…. Also, how cool is it that the laundering info is printed on the selvedge?! so classy and very considerate really, it’s been along long time since I’ve seen such consideration in a fabric. That information’s the kind of thing I usually forget the very minute I swan out of the shop with my new fabric tucked under my wing.
I also sewed this: “The Label” inside my dress… half of me wanted to sew it on the outside, haha! but of course Marimekko is instantly recognisable so there’s probably no need.
hehe, I’ve just asked my husband, and he had no idea! so maybe I should amend that, ahem… instantly recognisable to design and fabric afficianadoes, then!
Pattern; I used dress 108, the cover dress from the Burda 04/2014 issue, also known as the Wings Dress. It’s an interesting design; looks simple but has quite a lot of seaming which I chose to highlight with inset strips of acid-yellow cotton voile, bought from Calico House. My method for framing pieces with contrasting inset strips like this is here… and my method for edging those pocket openings as part of the side seam inset strip is here… I also edged the neckline, armholes and the lower hem and edges of the overskirt in yellow cotton as well. The dress closes with a long navy blue invisible zip in the centre back. I agonised a bit over the colour to use here, the contrasts in the colours of the print are all pretty extreme! yellow? blue? black? white? aaagh, so hard. The navy blue turned out not too bad, I reckon.
The bodice has princess seams and tiny additional bust darts in the centre front piece that I believe are called a Dior dart. This is the very first time I’ve come across one of these! it just adds a little more nuance to the “shape” in the bodice. Although there is all that shaping by seaming, the design is actually little boxy, believe it or not. I shaped mine a bit more throughout those seaming lines, bringing it in at the waist more and giving a bit more width at my hips. The princess seams in the bodice visually connect to the gore lines in the skirt, which itself has an interesting overskirt feature with the pockets in it. I think it looks quite interesting and pretty and lends the whole dress a slightly sporty “wraparound” feel to it, a bit like a sports or tennis dress.
I finished the raw pocket edges inside the front overlays all with HongKong seaming, because they have a tendency to flap open and show! So, I had to make sure the insides here look as lovely as possible. Binding the seams visually ties the inside with the inset strips on the outside; all those yellow edges everywhere just keeps it all nicely harmonious. Well, I reckon it does…
The loose front pieces also allows you to have these big loose comfortable pockets that you can shove your hands in, while still maintaing quite a slimline dress overall. As a result, the pattern uses very little fabric. I managed to squeeze my pattern pieces out of 1.5m, which is not too bad, not too bad at all, I think *preens oneself on an exceptionally economic layout* I had the merest of scraps left after cutting out my pieces, scraps, I tell you! The pattern has you line the dress, and after a bit of um-ing and aah-ing, I decided to not. Reason? summers here are very hot and I think the breeziness of this lovely cotton fabric is going to be perfect just as it is.
So that’s it! I love it paired up like here with my new white shoes. A little bit sporty, a little bit flower child, a LOT summer; my little bit of Marimekko loveliness is just awaiting to dazzle with ultra mod 60’s chic. Right on.
Details:
Dress; Burdastyle 108;04/2014 in Marimekko cotton with cotton voile contrast
Shoes; my own design and made by me, details here
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