Autumnal Nina Lee Kew dress


This is my first make after a long sewing break, and I'm really very excited to share it. I packed my sewing machine up two months ago as we moved from Oxford to Manchester for me to start a PhD here. It was one of the first things I unpacked, but I just couldn't find the time to sew for the first couple of weeks that we were settling in. Then the PhD started, and as I was trying to establish some kind of routine, sewing was low down the list of priorities. But then I realised that sewing is one of my most effective ways to relax and disconnect from the 9-5 activities, so I decided to start a project that's been on my 'want to sew' list for the longest time - a tea dress.

This dress started with the fabric. It's a lovely olive green viscose challis. I saw it in one of Fabric Godmother's newsletters and I couldn't resist it. When it arrived it just looked like a tea dress to me, so that's what it had to become. This was in early March.


There's two reasons why it took me so long to sew this dress. Firstly, the fabric has an autumnal look about it, so it didn't tempt me during spring and summer. Secondly, I just couldn't decide on a pattern.

I wanted a tea dress, but not a too vintage-y one. I used to own a fabulous tea dress, with all the lovely details reminiscent of a 1940s one. But I never wore it. With all its lovely intricate details it became a special occasion dress, and I have more special occasion dresses than I have special occasions. So I sold it. I kind of wish I didn't, but ah well.

So with that in mind I knew that if I made a very vintage looking tea dress, I just wouldn't wear it. Instead I wanted an everyday dress that reminded of a tea dress.



But I couldn't find a pattern. I thought of hacking a pattern that had the overall shape I wanted, e.g. Darling Ranges, or drafting my own, but that would require making a toile to check that it was turning out the way I wanted, and I just didn't have the time. Well, I guess I did, because I wasn't on a deadline or anything, but I didn't want to spend time on making a toile.

And then I saw the Kew dress by Nina Lee. And it was perfect! A simple and clean, but still very feminine look.


It was my first Nina Lee pattern, and I was excited to try it. It turned out to be a delightful sewing experience. The pattern is well-drafted and the instructions really thorough. It's quite an easy dress to sew, with nothing more complicated than inset sleeves. Because I hadn't been sewing for so long something easy and satisfying is really what I fancied, and the Kew dress delivered.

And I love the result! It's exactly the dress I had in mind when I first bought the fabric! It's simple, yet incredibly flattering, and importantly, very wearable.


In terms of construction, I only changed four things and three of them are all quite obvious. Firstly, I didn't do ruched sleeves. See point above about not wanting it too vintage-y looking.  Secondly, I shortened the dress by 15 cm. I love the elegant look of the original mid-calf length, but above the knees is just a length I feel more comfortable in. Finally, I didn't space my buttons as closely as in the pattern. This was a practical decision. I had some buttons which fit perfectly for my fabric, but they are quite large, and wouldn't look nice spaced closely together. Also, because my fabric is very lightweight I was worried that too many large buttons would weigh on the fabric and pull it out of shape. Maybe this is a silly worry, given that the dress has interfaced facings, I don't know. But the two bodice fronts are gaping a bit in between the buttons, which you might be able to see in the photos. So what I might do is put snaps between the buttons, but just on the facing, so they don't show from the outside.

Finally, the facing refused to stay down at the back despite understitching it and catch-stitching it to the shoulder seams. So I sewed a curved line between the shoulder seam on each side, through both the facing and the bodice back, like you see on RTW garments sometime. It means that there are visible stitches on the back of the bodice, but I think I did a reasonably neat job, so they don't bother me. Also, most likely I'll wear the dress with my hair down, so they won't even show.

So in summary I'm really happy with it! So happy I wore it out for a movie date the same day I finished it. Would love to make the cold shoulder version for summer. But first maybe some more autumn/winter makes.

Speaking of winter, tt was freezing taking these photos outside, but Josh kept me amused by making funny faces at me through the window as I posed for the self-timer, which resulted in this photo below. My favourite out of the set.