We went to Japan recently, and knowing it would be Autumn and a little chilly over there, I made a dress for the occasion. With warm weather most of the year where I live, I tend to sew summer wear most of the time. So making a winter garment for me is still a novelty. I love working with wool and the softness of it, and the feel of it against my skin, but I don’t get to wear them often. It is a treat when I do! I decided to use the pattern Kwik Sew 4013, since the colour blocking options appealed to me, and I used 2 different merino wools (both from my stash) for the dress.

- Pattern: Kwik Sew 4013, by Kerstin Martensson, view A dress with contrast fabric option from view B.
- Size made: Misses’ XS-XL included. I made size XS.
- Pattern pieces: 9 pieces for view A.
- Fabric used:
- Front and back bodice and dress: White floral merino wool blend jersey [57% merino wool, 43% polypropolene, 210 GSM, 150cm width, 1.5m length, unknown country of origin, bought from The Fabric Store, Sydney branch].
- Side panels and sleeves: Grey merino wool blend jersey [21% merino wool, 79% polypropolene, 138cm width, 1.5m length, unknown country of origin, bought from The Fabric Store, Sydney branch].
- New Techniques used: Disjointed elastic casings for elastic insertion.
- Modifications:
- Shortened bodice at the shoulders (had to re-attach the neck facing, and the armhole circumference decreases as a result, and sleeve head adjusted accordingly).
- Handstitched neck facings onto bodice.
- Reduce sides 4cm at waist on each side, hence total circumferential reduction is 16cm.
- Shortened hem of dress by 6cm.
- Shortened sleeve length by 3cm.









KYOTO, JAPAN
I wore this dress out and about in Kyoto. It was overcast and raining that day, so the lighting wasn’t the best. But how beautiful is Kyoto? We love it there so much.








I also went to Nomura Tailor in Kyoto, and Yuzawaya in Tokyo and Yokohama (and met up with my creative crush Eli of Cat in a Wardrobe . She is just so incredibly talented and is great at Shibori dyeing and dressmaking) . I have written about these fabric/craft stores in my previous post here.
That’s it for now! There is always so, so much to do and to catch up on after a holiday! I hope I can sneak in some sewing time somewhere. It’s exactly one month until Christmas, so it’s going to be a crazy, busy (but good) time coming up. I hope you are having fun sewing/making/preparing for the festive season.
What beautiful photos as always Sil, you are a great model and Sean is a great photographer. On the dress – I like the dropped shoulder look. Though to be honest I had to look twice when you mentioned it, the colour blocking means it is not so obvious. And what a lot of work on the alterations to the pattern. I admire your dedication!!!
Thanks Kate! I’m no model…photographer is the most important (well, and the dress itself) haha! I think dropped shoulder is more forgiving anyway in terms of fit, and is similar in terms of comfort. It wasn’t obvious to myself either even when I was sewing it; After trying it on for the first time, I thought why is the shoulder lines so low and the sleeves so long?? Alterations were ok…lucky it’s not a fitted dress, so I can just fudge it a bit :P