Nico Dress made with FS Luxury Bleached Midweight Linen
When I sat down recently to make the Nico bias cut dress, I realized just how ironic it was that I was sewing with white linen: it was Labor Day.
I, like everyone else, am familiar with the age-old rule that tells us not to wear white after Labor Day, but I wasn’t sure where the rule came from. As it turns out, the idea behind it is to signify the end of summer. Labor Day is often the marker of the end of the summer vacation period, and white clothing was often associated with the upper class and summer.
Nowadays, it seems like fashion centric rules are only meant to be broken anyway. Since I live in Florida and it’s more or less summer all year long, I feel like this rule especially doesn’t apply to me!
Nico Dress made with FS Luxury Bleached Midweight Linen
The Nico Bias Cut Dress is a timeless design with an elevated feel. Other than the fact that it comes with multiple lengths from a cropped shirt version all the way to a maxi version, its simple shape makes it the perfect pattern to hack with endless possibilities.
I’m the kind of person who will usually inconvenience myself in the name of sustainability, and unfortunately, that manifests in my sewing practice by only ever printing portions that are absolutely necessary. This generally means I end up draining my phone battery to pull up pattern instructions, and it can be quite the annoyance. I loved the ease of having the instructions in written form close by.
Nico Dress made with FS Luxury Bleached Midweight Linen
The construction of the Nico dress is simple and straightforward, but if you’ve never worked with a pattern that’s cut on the grain, you’ll quickly notice the difference in the way it needs to be handled in order to maintain its shape. Thankfully, the instructions don’t skimp on explanation. They were very concise and offered lots of little helpful tips to make sure I was happy with my finished garment.
I loved that the pattern included seam allowance for French seams too. I chose to face the binding outwards to give a little bit of a casual feel – which is definitely a word I’d use to describe my personal style.
Nico Dress made with FS Luxury Bleached Midweight Linen
Arguably, my favorite thing about this pattern is that the only speed bump with linen (so many wrinkles!) essentially doesn’t exist given its bias drape. Any time I wear a linen dress cut on the grain, it tends to immediately crease; but given that the grain is diagonal, it stays looking beautiful and crease free the whole time!
After letting it hang for 24 hours to ensure that my hemming would be even (another finicky thing you’ll need to do with a bias cut garment), she was ready to be finished and worn!
Nico Dress made with FS Luxury Bleached Midweight Linen
I took my younger daughter for a little morning walk at our local beach and snapped some photos that show proof of our “summer forever” climate. I even got a few compliments from other friendly beach walkers! I think it’s safe to say that the Nico dress in a crisp, white linen is a perfect pair for a beach morning.
2 Comments
Hello, I am a woman in my 70’s. When I was younger, at LEAST until the 1980’s, the rule was no white SHOES after Labor Day. Somehow, this has morphed into a proscription against white clothing. In my opinion (and that of my Mom, the very soul of decorum) white shirts, blouses, sweaters, and more can always be worn. Of course, it is merely common sense to wear a fabric or fiber which is appropriate to the season and weather. Around 20 years ago I purchased a white two piece angora sweater dress. Please help put a stop to this pernicious and unfounded rumor that white can not be worn after Labor Day!
I’m soon to be 69. I’m from Kansas so we have always been a bit backwards LOL. My understanding was no white shoes or purses after Labor Day. I recently bought a wonderful pair of white, canvas, high top tennis shoes for myself at at drastically reduced price. I have them put away until spring LOL.
My three daughters, four granddaughters, and four sisters all wear bigger shoes than I do but I do have a great niece that wears my size. I am happy to think that she will have my cool shoes after I no longer need them. Big families are still fun.