Double Cloth Summer Dress

Welcome to my quirkiest photoshoot to date. I've been SO inspired by a few new accounts on Instagram that I thought I'd try a less-traditional take on a blog post. Ha. Thank you to my husband for rolling with my vision and allowing me to get creative.

When I saw this incredible mural while driving down Douglas (the main street that cuts through our downtown in Wichita), I fell in LOVE. The colors. the quirky macaroni...what's not to love? (by the talented Armondo Minjarez)
So after I completed this dress, curled my hair like crazy, put some gold eyeshadow under my eyes...it was TIME.
Now, for details...

The Pattern: In the Folds Pepelum Top (lengthened into a dress)
The Fabric: Double cloth from Indiesew
The Process: Allie of Indiesew listed this double cloth fabric on her site and I was instantly drawn to it. Simple lines and SO breathable. I'd never worked with double cloth before but decided to give it a whirl. When washed, this fabric shrinks up in a really interesting way and Allie suggested NOT ironing the fabric before cutting it out to sew. Welllll I veered away from that (although I love the crinkled look) and decided to iron it and cut. I will most likely need to re-iron after every wash if I want to get this look each time. We will see what happens (I'm a werido that likes to iron, so it doesn't bother me).
Working with the double cloth was fun up until the bias binding. Because of the nature of the 2 layers of fabric, then cutting it on the bias...whew. It was tricky. I ended up redoing the armholes twice and finally caved and used pre-made bias tape on the neck.
I left the bottom edge with an open selvage b/c I love the look of it! Gives it a bit of an 'undone' vibe.
I chose to play with the directions of the stripes as well, just for fun!
One thing to note about this dress...it is quite voluminous! The light weight fabric mixed with the ruffles makes for lots of fabric and movement when walking. It ended up being a bit more of a statement dress than I intended.
Modifications: This pattern is originally for a peplum top. I simply extended the ruffle part of the pattern by over 2 feet. After sewing up one side I decided I wanted pockets, so I went back and added those in, using a pocket pattern from another dress I'd made. It's hard to see in the picture, but I used the back side of the fabric (a solid blue) for the pocket lining, so it peaks through sometimes. These little details make garments like this so special to me.
Styling & Versatility: This is definitely a summer dress given the weight of the fabric. But with these crazy hot days we've been having, I'm grateful for a giant breathable piece to wear. I dressed this up for church with my quirky Dolce Vita slides, but I could also see wearing it with my Birkenstocks for a more casual look
I could possibly style it with a cardigan or my Hampton jean jacket for fall. We will see!
Overal Review: I had fun 'hacking' a pattern I'd already sewn up before and I learned a lot about working with double cloth.