I should begin my post about sewing up this olive floral stretch sateen by letting you know that I don’t like florals. I mean, I appreciate them from an aesthetic standpoint, like when Cali Fabrics gets a beautiful group of designer stretch sateen in stock, but I know I won’t like the way I look and feel wearing florals. So I say “ooh that’s pretty” and move on. And yet, I kept circling back to this olive floral sateen, with its unique colorway and gothic vibe. So I decided to take a chance with my Cali & Co. fabric allowance and try it out, like a kid that just won’t stop touching a hot stove! I never learn!
First a word about this beautiful fabric – it’s a very nice midweight with some stretch, making it really versatile. This could be pants, a skirt, a dress, a light jacket, a blazer – I kicked around all of these ideas and then I decided to go with the Matilda shirtdress by Megan Nielsen patterns. This is one of my favorite patterns of the moment, I’ve already made a few versions, so I knew I liked the pattern and it would be very wearable regardless of how I felt about florals. 
Despite being a midweight this sateen works for this pattern, although obviously it would be a poor choice for a flowy style shirtdress. I like the way it gives the skirt some structure. I know it’s a sleeveless pattern, but it will work for me as a fall transitional piece here in the Bay Area, and I can throw a sweater or jacket over it on a cool morning.
This pattern has a lot of options, which is one reason I like it, and for this version I chose to omit the collar (a stylistic choice) and the pockets (an I-ran-out-of-fabric choice, because I love the big patch pockets).
The sateen was very easy to work with. The buttonholes got a little squirrely because of the weight of the sateen, but overall it worked out just fine, and either way the plackets involve sewing thru 4 layers of fabric.
I think in the end – I like it! I don’t feel uncomfortable, or like I’m wearing a dress that belongs to someone else. I’m looking forward to wearing it this fall. So this part of my florals experiment was a success, and I’m glad I tried something different. 
What about you – how often do you like to try something (a style of clothing or a textile) that you know might not be ‘you’? Do you like going outside your comfort zone? Are your sewing time and resources are too valuable to spend on something that you’re just not confident you’ll end up wearing?