I’ve sewn up the Tessuti Eva dress a few times now.  Mostly I sew the sleeveless version, but I felt it was time for another with short sleeves.

I find this an extremely easy style to wear. It’s also rather straightforward to sew, especially when sewing the short sleeved version and eliminating the side seam pockets.

From the Tessuti website:  This loose dress features a bodice that sits at high waist and a panelled, lantern-shaped skirt with side pockets. It can be made up in either a short-sleeved (A) or sleeveless (B) version. The Eva Dress is designed to be simple and stylish garment and makes for a comfortable and cool addition to your summer wardrobe. It’s best made up in medium weight crinkle and plain linens, textured cottons and cotton blends. For layering in the cooler months, Eva can also be made up in a wool crepe.

This pattern is one of Tessuti’s earlier patterns, and has recently been redrafted and re-released, including in a larger size range (up to size 22).  My pattern is the original, and I think that I sewed this in size Medium (roughly an Australian size 12).  My measurements are closer to the Large.

The fabric is hand-woven silk that I bought in Chiang Mai. I turned the neckline binding to the outside for added interest, and did the same to finish the sleeve hems and the skirt hemline. The hemline is quite curved, so bias works well there.

I chose to sew this dress on the sewing machine then finish all the seams together on the overlocker. I thought that this would be the strongest finish for this fabric, which looks as though it could have a tendency to shred a little under stress. That’s one of the reasons why I left out the pockets – I didn’t want to risk heavy objects pulling down against the seams.

I’m very pleased with this dress and know that I am likely to get years of wear from it. The colour is quite iridescent in the sunlight, which isn’t really picked up in these photos. I feel great in it, it’s comfortable, and it holds great memories. What more could you want!