THE DRAPERY BLOG

French pattern company Deer and Doe released the Myosotis Dress in 2018, at the forefront of the ruffles'n'gathers trend. It had a lot of love back then, but despite our best intentions the pattern never made it to the top of our sewing list at the time. Deer and Doe has since released several more 'fancy' dress patterns, which is why I browsed their shop when I wanted to make a new dress for when I perform with my lovely community choir. I hovered over the recent Orchidée pattern but ultimately was drawn back to the Myosotis. The semi-fitted bodice has more room for drawing in a lungful of air, mid-song!  The sateen fabric is one I specifically earmarked for a choir frock when we ordered it. Fiona and I both immediately made 'ooh, aah' noises over it when we saw and felt the samples. That's when we know we're onto a good thing. A beautiful Japanese-made blend of 60% Lyocell (sustainably produced viscose from wood pulp) and 40% cotton, it's tightly...

Of course our Spring Top series has to include our beloved Deer and Doe patterns. The  Ondée (pronounced more simply than we had imagined, as just ' on-dee ') knit top pattern has interested us for a while. Here are a few versions from the blog-world that have inspired us: Tassadit of Rue des Renards Clotilde and more Clotilde   The clincher for me was this yellow skirt I recently made, which has a higher waist than most other 'bottoms' in my wardrobe. Thus I found myself lacking in suitably short tops to wear with it. Could I really carry off a 'cropped' t-shirt? Well with just a few pattern pieces and a small amount of stash fabric I could give it a fairly low-risk try! Five Ondées later..... I suspected from the start I'd want to lengthen the Ondée, but for the sake of proper pattern reviewing I made a size 42 with no adjustments first. No-one really needs to see a photo of me wearing tha...

I feel like I need to make excuses for this shirt because it's so, well, neutral and conservative. However, we all need a bit of that in our wardrobes and I really rather love this make. This is my second version of the Deer and Doe Melilot shirt . I must love this pattern because it's quite something for me to sew two shirts with plackets and cuffs and all that palaver in a row! The fabric is a beautifully soft, yarn-dyed brushed cotton with a teensy tiny check. There's a bit of this left in store and similar here . Buttons are shell, from my stash but we did just order some very similar for the shop! Instead of the full button front I changed this Melilot to a partial placket, or 'popover' style. (I wasn't aware of the term popover until I saw the Grainline Archer 'popover' variation but I guess it's as good a description as any.) To achieve this I folded away the button/buttonhole placket extension of the shirt front pattern piece...

The Melilot shirt, a drop-shouldered button-up, is one of the latest patterns from French designers Deer and Doe. We love both the style and the fit of their patterns - click on the tag 'Deer and Doe' to the right and you'll see posts about others we've made. (There should be an accent on the e of Melilot but I don't know how to type that, forgive me!) I made a combination of Views A and B: long sleeves with cuffs, but omitting the concealed button placket and collar (and no pockets). This fabric needs to speak for itself! However in a plain fabric these details would help make the garment special. This Melilot came about partly by accident... I cut the wrong length of this amazing Nani Iro double gauze 'Beautiful Life' for a customer. But it was the right length for a Melilot, so what's a girl to do? Like all Deer and Doe patterns I've tried, this came together very nicely. Their patterns are drafted for a C to D-cup bust which suits me v...

Welcome back to our occasional Fabric Friday series! This 'Old Navy' mid-weight 100% Linen is an absolute beauty, and since our first bolt of it sold out in no time, we nabbed all the remainder from our supplier. It's unlikely to be repeated since it's a remnant from clothing manufacture. 'Old Navy' refers to the colour  (in case you're wondering whether it's related to the US clothing store, it's not). It's really a deep blue-ish toned charcoal.  The 'right' side of it has a bit of polished sheen, while the back is matte. Old Navy Linen is a pleasure to work with. It's extremely tightly woven and stable so all your pattern pieces will match up beautifully. The thing to watch out for is that the tightly woven linen has little to no 'give'. Bear this in mind if making a garment that requires a little breathing room, e.g. with a fitted waistband! (Speaking from experience....)  This pair of Deer and Doe ...

Our final Frocktober Guest Post is our lovely customer and friend Amanda. We've seen Amanda's sewing skills blossom over the last couple of years. She's been able to create some really beautiful clothes custom-fitted to her tall, slender frame. She really is one of the nicest human beings you could possibly hope to meet and is always generously thinking of others, so we were pleased to encourage her to do some selfish sewing for Frocktober. Amanda doesn't have her own blog so we welcome her to ours, with her stunning new frock! The Drapery kindly invited me to be one of their Frocktober friends. Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose and is rarely caught early. Its impact can be widespread and devastating. By supporting Frocktober we're raising awareness and much needed funds for research and support. The pattern I chose was the Deer & Doe Belladone which I've made once before. I really love the feature back and of course the pockets!  The on...

We're keeping the Frocktober inspiration happening for you! Don't miss your chance to receive 10% off all Frock pattern + fabric purchases during the month of October, and for each combo we'll donate $2 to the frockin' great cause that is the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation . Deer and Doe + linen + Liberty = a recipe for Frocktober happiness, in my opinion! Since I've been wearing my first Arum Dress on high rotation, and since it's Frocktober, and we had a large new delivery of beautiful Lithuanian linens, and a new delivery of Arum patterns, well... how could I resist? I was keen to try adding a functional pocket to the frock, rather than the decorative chest-height one as per the pattern. The pocket I ended up with was the result of a Pinterest 'patch pocket' hunt. The original was for a child's size pocket so I made a couple of samples before I was happy with the shape and size. Below shows the shape untied. The lining is Liberty ...