Stylish Dress Book 2: Dress F

When we went to Indonesia last summer, I came back with quite a heap of fabrics. Several of them are from my mother's collection which are too beautiful that I'm still afraid to cut them, and several are store-bought.

This cotton batik is bought from Danar Hadi, a batik store in the city of Solo, Central Java; the brown and indigo pattern is called 'Parang rusak'. I browsed through my Japanese pattern book and find dress F in 'Stylish Dress Book 2'. The pattern is very simple, a loose dress with raglan sleeves, several rows of shirrings on neckline, and a drawstring on hip.

A linen tape is used for the drawstring, actually they are two separate pieces connected together with a length of elastics. The elastics make it easier to pull the strings without having to arrange the gathers all the time. I can wear the drawstrings low on the hip or pull it tighter to create a blouson dress.

I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. The fabric was a bit stiff at first, but it will gradually loose its stiffness with every wash as most batik does. I guess I should wear this dress as often as possible!



Pattern is from Stylish Dress Book 2.