As I have been wearing my first Nina Lee Carnaby dress all the time this Summer, I thought it would be a good idea to make another one. I love that it is so easy to throw on and makes you feel put together while still being really comfortable to wear.
I bought some of this gorgeous Cotton and Steel fabric from Sew Scrumptious when we did our Pop Up Shop together last week and couldn’t wait to make it into another Carnaby. The dress really lends itself to being made from mid weight cottons, and I love the fun prints from Cotton and Steel.
In my previous version, I had omitted the back zip and opted for a button and loop closure, but seeing as I don’t even need to undo that to get it on, I decided to omit a closure altogether for this version and cut the back piece on the fold. I had to adjust both the back bodice and back skirt pieces to account for this and it did mean taking out some of the shaping near the hips but I still think it works just as well.
I also needed to cut the back facing piece on the fold and then I attached the new all in one facing to the dress using the burrito method. There are some great youtube tutorials on this, if you need further help.
Cotton and Steel fabrics tend to have adorable selvedges and I think this was the best one I’ve seen yet! It is highly complementary and tells you that “You look nice today” so I decided to add it as a label on the neck facing.
Overall, I think my favourite thing about this dress has to be the pockets. I used some leftover Cotton and Steel fabric in a contrasting pink for the pockets and facings – I think it just adds some nice detail. The pockets are just so useful for storage and means you don’t need to carry a bag!
The Carnaby pattern has proved really popular lately but the good news is, I have just restocked them!
