Wiggle dress

I am an avid follower of Gertie's new blog for better sewing - she makes gorgeous retro clothes that fit really well and generally look amazing. She also quite recently published a book with really lovely patterns, including one for an incredible wiggle dress which I fell completely in love with and couldn't resist buying the book! 

I need to dress quite smartly for work, but I also find that shop-bought dresses tend not to fit me - they are often tight over the hips and loose at the waist. Not a good look! So I thought I'd make one instead, and I'm really happy with how it has turned out. 

I did a pattern making course a few years ago and have become obsessed with fit! So I can't help but make quite a few toiles before I'm happy to start on the final garment. Doing that also gives me confidence to buy more expensive fabric which will generally give a much nicer finish than something synthetic. 

I went to Soho in London to buy this fabric and bought a wool/cashmere tweed to use, which has such richness of colour which I unfortunately wasn't able to capture in these photos. The weave of the fabric means that it sometimes appears different colours in different lights. It's a really deep forest green - I love it! I was quite cautious when I bought it, so I made sure I had a little extra just in case. In the end, there was enough left over for me to also make a pencil skirt. I've worn both the dress and the skirt endlessly, so it was definitely a good investment to splash out a bit on the fabric. What have your experiences been with using better quality fabrics?