Seersucker Sundress

 Inspired by the sundress challenge #joyvivsundress  on Instagram, sponsored by youtubers Joy and Viv, I spent hours looking through my Burda magazine archives.    I picked out  a dress from the June 2006 issue of Burda. Number 113.  Thanks, goodness, for the Russian Burda website. Not only does it have the pictures and line drawings from all issues back to 2003, but also the pictures of this particular dress made by  Russian sewists. These pictures showed  many variations of fabric choice and model body shape, for  both dress 113, and it non ruffle version, 114.

 In the magazine, the dress is shown made of seersucker fabric.  From the  Fabric File:  Seersucker is described as a  light and airy cotton with crinkled stripes that is ideal for wearing in summer as the undulating surface doesn’t come into constant contact with your skin. This fabric is easy care as it rarely creases and doesn’t need ironing.  The typical textured surface of authentic seersucker is due to the weaving method: some longways warp yarns tight and the others slack. In cheaper version soaking some threads in sodium bicarbonate swells them to produce a similar effect.  The seersucker name derives from Persian “shir o shekar” meaning “milk and sugar” a suitable sweet description for a fabulous fabric.

I had some seersucker in my stash and decided, based on the description above, it would be perfect for a unlined dress that would be worn in the sun. I picked out a turquoise/white 1/16" striped seersucker. The crinkled aspect of the fabric made it a bit problematic to mark with my favorite method, tracing wheel and tracing paper.  The dots were hard to see on the striped fabric and it was difficult to choose the color of the paper to use. If the color showed up on the dark stripes, then it showed through on the lighter stripes.  I ended up used hand tacking to mark the multiple  flounce attachment lines. The crinkled texture does reduce wearing creases and is also a bit stretchy, a nice feature as this dress is close fitting. The style was an easy sew. I finished the edges of the flounces using this technique.

 

 I  taper the skirt from waist to hem a total of  2 inches, to give a more flattering  look.  The deep squared off neckline is a bit unusual. But as the magazine photo shows, it a great place to hang your sunnies.

While I don’t have anywhere to wear the dress currently, what with the Covid situation and the unusually cool temps we are having at the moment, I am planning a few summer trips and have booked a cruise in 2022 (fingers crossed).