High-waist Dress in Liberty Tana Lawn "Wiltshire" (Classics Collection)

Finished~! Perfect summer dress. (more on IG)

Completed a more ambitious dress project around end July (24th July, to be precise), just in time for the Hokkaido summer road trip with my besties. (More on the road trip later~)

Made the dress in Liberty 'Wiltshire' Tana Lawn from the Classics Collection. Besides nani IRO, I also love using Liberty Tana Lawn.

Tana Lawn was introduced by William Haynes Dorell, Liberty's fabric buyer, after WWI. The fabric was named after Ethiopia's Lake Tana, which was the early source for the yarn. The fabric is woven with fine Egyptian cotton yarn, and has a high thread count, hence the wonderful silk-like sensation. It's lightweight, fine, airy and soft — well suited to summer or tropical weather. Which makes it suitable for the Singaporean wardrobe since it's warm and sticky all year round here!

Wore it 3 times during the road trip, and it is perfect for summer weather—and thus perfect for the climate at home. I still can't get over how lightweight and breathable the fabric is. How easily it washes, how quickly it dries, and how the creases straighten out.

Liberty of London Tana Lawn "Wiltshire" (Blue)

The 'Wiltshire' print was designed for Liberty in 1933, then redesigned in 1968 and has been a classic since 1979. The pretty leaf-and-berry print comes in many colourways, some of which are exclusives. It's one of my favourite Liberty prints, and at the moment, I have it in 3 colourways: this blue/purple, in red/blue, and in a red/black that I got from Duckadilly. But I'm eyeing other colourways that I think will be adorable for Blythe clothes.

The dress pattern is Pattern No. 11 from Nakanishi Norio's Textiles that are Loved Around the World & Dresses.¹ (English translation in PDF here.) Love this pattern book. It's the No. 1 favourite pattern book in my pattern book stash right now. It's full of lovely and classic designs, and features several mouthwatering prints (see the review by Japanese Sewing Books).

I felt that some parts of the sewing instructions need a little elaboration or specifics. Though overall, the instructions are generally fairly easy to follow. Not really beginner-friendly though....

With regards to the sizing, I like that the book has 5 graded sizes (S, M, ML, L, LL) and some designs are designed to be more figure-fitting. It's a change from the typically loose or free-form designs in most Japanese pattern books. That said, I personally still had to fiddle with the sizing for Pattern No. 11 — I'm S in all areas, except the waist where the M would fit better. Darn, why can't the weight I gained go to the correct body parts!

Wearing it on our BFF trip to Hokkaido. Here at Farm Tomita, Furano.

At the end of this project, mentally it feels like time to make something with my other Liberty Tana lawns!

-------
1. Full title:「世界で愛されるプリントのdress」中西 教夫 (著者)、文化出版局 (2015/03/13). Romaji: Sekai de aisareru purinto no dress. English: Dress of Textiles that are Loved Around the World, Nakanishi Norio (author), Bunka Publishing Bureau (13 March 2015), (Amazon Jp). The title literally means "Dresses of Prints that are Loved Around the World".