The Wilder Gown, by the Friday Pattern Company, has really taken off since it’s release.  It’s everywhere on sewing blogs and Instagram!  It has surprised how I have gone from someone who first though ‘nah, it’s a nightie’ to someone who has really embraced this silhouette and pattern.

One of the joys of this pattern is finding fabric that has terrific flow and lightness. This polyester crepe from Super Cheap Fabrics is just perfect for it – and the colours and print is perfect for me. It’s got a crepe texture, gathers really easily, has a bit of body while still being slightly sheer, presses well and it swishes perfectly. I often avoid polyester, but honestly there are some excellent polyesters around.

I had sewn this pattern in the top version earlier in the year to get an idea of sizing before I tackled a dress.  I made the dress in the same size as the top, XL in line with my bust measurement.  Interestingly,  in this fabric I think I should have made the L.  It’s just  a more voluminous than I would prefer.

Because so many people have sewn this already I was able to get some ideas from the hive mind about what tweaks might work for me. I lengthened the bodice an inch or two (can’t remember exactly which), and cut the skirt panel pieces two inches shorter than the pattern suggested. I’m not very tall! I also decided to just cut the skirt panels to the width of the fabric. So the top tier is the full width of the fabric, gathered in to the top, and the bottom tier is twice the full width of the fabric.

I think that my skirt cutting decision has resulted in a top tier with less gathering than the panel, and a bottom tier with more, but it still works just fine! The bottom tier is narrow hemmed. I did the gathering the old fashioned way with two parallel rows of lengthened straight stitches sewn on the machine. I have learned how to gather on the overlocker, but some habits die hard! I also like the amount of control that I get from hand gathering that way.

I suspect that part of the appeal of this dress is that it’s simple to sew and to wear, yet the gathered neckline is a detail that isn’t often found in otherwise simple patterns. It’s not hard to fit, due to the style, and fabric choice makes quite a difference to the overall look.

I’m SO unlikely to wear this with the gathered neck tied at the front, but I really do like it just left open and untied. That said, I’ve seen it look super cute on others when tied in a bow.

Because this is slightly sheer, I have been wearing a purchased slip under it. That’s been a bit to do with the weather too though – I’ve needed that little bit more warmth. Melbourne has been unseasonably cool this November/December. It is certainly a stand out garment, especially in this bright fabric. Although I’ve usually thought of polyester as a hot fabric, this one doesn’t feel like that. Fibre technology really has changed over the years!

Super Cheap Fabrics gave me open slather to choose a couple of lengths of fabric to make whatever I liked, and share it with you in a blog post. Since I often sew with their fabrics anyway, that was an offer that I wasn’t going to refuse! They’ve also offered a discount for my blog readers. It’s a further 10% off your entire order if you enter the code Thornberry-10 at the checkout.  Although they have a couple of physical shops in Melbourne, nowadays a huge amount of their business is online, and they’ll post fabric anywhere.