Plaid Trillium Dress
Tada! Behold my latest Trillium Dress, featuring a Merchant and Mills plaid and some hand-stitching on the facings and hem.
I’d been doing a pretty good job shopping my stash and whittling down my enormous fabric collection…but lately the problem seems to be All the Pretty Fabrics. Considering how many of them I’ve resisted I should get a medal, but yes I do seem to have purchased a fair bit more than the usual this year. I used to have a post-it note on my wall that said “THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MORE FABRIC” as a way to convince myself to back the eff down when I suddenly had the urge to impulse-buy something pretty, but IDK where that even went. It's a work in progress, is what I’m saying. I’m a work in progress.
All that to say: this gorgeous Merchant and Mills plaid was an impulse buy from Ewe. And ermigerd DON’T EVEN CLICK on that link because they just got more M&Mills plaid in and this one is extra yummy and would make the perfect Trillium but I don’t want you blaming me for Your Fabric Problem. ACK I’m half typing this post half planning what I could make with that one…moving on!!
Owing to the large scale of the plaid, one really has to be careful about cutting out the pieces, as the colors tend to pool visually if you place them too close to a similar hue. Ultimately I think the fabric is served best with a full-volume pattern, and while I think I pulled it off with this dress, you absolutely must check out Jacqui’s new Gatherer pattern sample that she made out of the same fabric — it is so gorgeous and stunning and IMHO she wins this fabric, hands down.
I mainly decided hand-stitch the facings and hem because I felt it needed an extra visual element, which I think breaks up the large scale of the print a bit. I really like the “this dress is handmade” message that the stitching adds. It’s not meant to be perfect, and the linen will most certainly often be rumpled, all adding to the overall charm.
I wore it last weekend with my navy Citrine cardigan but I think it also looks great with my pale yellow Citrine!
PS. Is Citrine the perfect fall layer?? I think so!
