Deer and Doe Pavot and Pauline Alice Bailén Dress for Lidia

 Lidia sat her UCAT exam a few weeks back and asked me to sew her a special outfit.

I adore making new clothes for an event, it's something special I can do to boost the recipient up and it harks back to our early years of marriage when Jed and I had no money and I had to make everything from scratch. By sewing, I could produce something really special, better than the shops.

Lidia wanted a coat dress with a chemise to wear under it. I sent her off to pattern and fabric 'hunt and gather' and she found the Deer and Doe Pavot (sadly, no longer available) and some poly/wool bubbly check cloth (that I purchased from Eliza's of Sunshine, now closed) for $1/m.

I made the Pavot for Elsa, in 2013, and although it is an unlined jacket, it is very easy to drop a lining into it.

For the dress/slip she choose the Pauline Alice Bailén a free pattern that can be sewn as a camisole or chemise.

The coat fabric was not the easiest of sews. The 'bubbly' nature of the fabric made lining up the plaid section tricky not to mention the pieces that had interfacing ironed to them 'flattened' which added to the problem. I showed the result to Liddy and she was quite happy so I persevered.

The metal hollow buttons were an elegant finish that Lidia chose herself. I would have used self cover but  in retrospect I think I like these better.

The front placket not pattern matching below the waistband annoys me but apart from cutting and piecing it I am not sure what I could have done.

I shortened the slip dress by a good 30 cms as Liddy wanted a mini. The fabric, a lush stretch satin, is again from Eliza Fabrics. I self lined the dress (putting wrong sides together and then treating as one) for a little more structure.

I used the same satin to line the jacket for a truly beautiful wearing experience.

I am pleased with the resulting garments.

I think we created an elegant outfit that was also very comfortable to wear.

Lidia was by far the most smartly dressed for the exam but she didn't care. She said it gave her great confidence and made her feel like a super star!

She certainly received many admiring glances throughout the day.

Lidia did well at her exam and achieved a competitive result as a rural student. Where she will actually attend University is still unknown but she is definitely on her way.

Thank you for reading .... xx Nicole