liesl’s floral saint-germain wrap dress

Hello friends!

I am not really one to wear a floaty, floral dress, but I’ve surprised myself by liking this one! The floral print reached out and grabbed me one day at the fabric store. No kidding. I pleaded with it to leave me alone, especially since it’s a bit sheer and it’s polyester. (I usually don’t like the hand feel of polyester, and I hate to think about what it does to the planet.) But I needed a fabric of this weight to test the pattern, so I gave in.

So here I am in what turned out to be a dress I absolutely adore. Never mind it being the first run-through of the pattern. I made some minor changes to the pattern after this, but I love it despite the little issues!

I introduced you to this pattern the other day. When I designed this pattern, I was specifically inspired by the stereotypical Parisian girl, confident in her feminine chic-ness. Oddly enough, I feel surprisingly confident when I wear this dress, too. Plus, so many compliments every time I wear it! I was honestly surprised.

It’s easy to miss the buttons on this style, especially since they blend into the fabric on the pattern cover. Here they’re more visible, which is good because I think they’re a nice detail. There is plenty of overlap in this wrap style, too, so you don’t need to worry about being indiscreet. There’s nothing worse than walking down the street while worrying that you’re more on display than you intended, you know? And I think the neckline is really flattering, too.

I really love the flowy sleeve in View B. Very feminine. I’m more of a View A type of person, but with this fabric it just works.

As it turns out, I’m crap at twirling to show you the skirt. Especially when a group of tourists just passed us while looking at me very curiously. It twirls, really. Just not when I try to twirl it for you.

I wore this dress during the summer with sandals. It works with boots, too. Oh yeah, we showed it with tall boots on the pattern cover, so you already know that.

Funny enough, I fell in love with a dress in an expensive shop here in Madrid a year or two ago. There was no way I was was going to pay that kind of money for a dress, especially when I can sew. Turns out, this is the same fabric as that dress! I found a snapshot of that dress when looking for something else in my photos the other day, and the fabric is the exact same floral and colorway. But it turns out that I like my dress much better than the other one. What luck!

This fabric was a bit sheer, so I wear a cotton lawn slip dress underneath it. I have my eye on another much more expensive floral fabric with a dark ground, too. I haven’t decided whether to take the plunge yet, but if I do I’ll definitely sew another Saint-Germain Dress and show you.

You can pick up your own copy of the Saint-Germain Wrap Dress sewing pattern in paper or in digital format. We’ll have a sew-along for this dress in the new year, too. And Masha will show you how to add a dart if you want one. We’ve included cup sizes on this pattern, but I think some of you will still want a dart for a really good fit, so stay tuned for that.