Last week in Vienna, my friend Ena and I visited the Africa festival on Danube Island. I ate yummy Ethiopian food, and then we spent the entire evening looking at the jewelry, clothes and other beautiful things that were on display in tents all over the island. We discovered waxprints for 8€/m at one of them – of course I couldn’t resist picking up two meters of one of the fabrics! I’ve been curious about African waxprint ever since I first read about it on a blog.

As soon as I came home, I just had to sew something with the fabric. I had already picked a pattern, Burda 03/2017 No. 112, because its simplicity would let the fabric be the star of the show. I needed only a couple hours from tracing the pattern to hemming the finished dress, it really was that easy to make. I didn’t have enough fabric for the full sleeves, so I shortened them – I prefer it like that anyway, because this is going to be a staple for hot days.

Sewing with the waxprint was fantastic. I’m still struggling with stretch fabric or light, slippery fabric, and was delighted to work with something robust for a change. Of course, the stiff nature of the fabric meant I wouldn’t be able to use it for the loop at the neckline. Instead, I used some storebought orange ribbon. The button is from my Grandma’s collection.

I’m so happy with the dress, but as it was my first time using the pattern, it does have some fitting issues. You can see it in the picture below. The sleeves are too tight, and consequently I get that crease across my breasts. Oh well. I intend to use the pattern again (it’s ideal for large, showy prints) and will improve the fit the next time.

PATTERN OVERVIEW

Pattern: Burda Style 03/2017 No. 112, size 40.

Fabric: African waxprint (100% cotton)

Photography: Philip