November 11, 2015

Floral Appleton Dress – and you can buy the fabric!


For several years I’ve frantically searched for great printed knits, like a demented stretch-obsessed magpie.  They’re just so hard to find! So when I was in the UK this summer and I popped into John Lewis I immediately ran straight for this gorgeous rose print ITY knit. It’s by John Kaldor, a well-known fabric brand in the UK but something I’ve never seen in the US. Of course I snapped some up and here’s my latest Appleton Dress:

Cashmerette Appleton Dress Floral Fabric


The fabric is a poly/spandex ITY (very similar to jersey but knit in a different way), but for reasons unbeknownst to me, while a lot of polys are nasty, some are much much nicer. Like this one! It’s drapey but not clingy, and doesn’t have that weird feeling polys sometimes can have.

Cashmerette Appleton Dress

So that’s another addition to my Appleton wardrobe… because clearly I need more! And because this knit doesn’t crease and machine washes and dries easily I have a suspicion I’ll probably be wearing this 5.5 days a week…

Cashmerette Appleton Dress

Finally, I do have one exciting thing to mention! I loved this jersey so much I decided to track it down from the manufacturer, and I managed to get a hold of a few bolts.

So you can now buy this to make your own floral Appleton! It comes in two formats: as a kit, which has 2.75 yards of the ITY (enough to make the long-sleeved version in any size), plus a copy of the Appleton; and by the yard, in case you already have your pattern or want to make a different knit pattern like the Colette Moneta, or the Lady Skater.

Floralfront2web

Are you a fan of large-scale florals? Are there any other types of jersey you’d like me to sniff down with my print-jersey-radar?

9 thoughts on “Floral Appleton Dress – and you can buy the fabric!

  1. Simply put – I LOVE IT!! I’m a sucker for flowers but pastels are my enemy so this is my dream fabric!

  2. PsychicKathleen says:

    I love this material too – gorgeous! I’m also always on the hunt for a great knit print and they are REALLY hard to find. I’ve found a couple of nice ones (Liberty of London) but they aren’t plentiful for sure 🙂

  3. Tomasa says:

    I agree this is a beautiful fabric and the dress looks gorgeous on you. It fits you beautifully too!

  4. Sew Recipe says:

    Um. I love this! I wish I knew about it last week! Gorgeous print and very on trend.

  5. gilliancrafts says:

    Large florals are my favourite! Nice choice of fabric!

  6. Andie W. says:

    Love the fabric! You look gorgeous. 🙂

  7. Gorgeous! Yes, prints are hard to find, especially in darker (non-blue) colors. I seem to find nothing but blue and I’d love green or purple or teal! I desperately need to get my butt down to The Fabric Store to check out their merino jersey.

  8. Deb says:

    Another Cashmerette offering – gorgeous fabrics? Yes!

Let me know what you think!