Category: Dresses

Birch Fabric + Straightgrain Patterns Blog Tour

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It is certainly a match-made in heaven when you combine beautiful organic cotton fabrics with fresh and modern clothing patterns for kids.  So when Birch Fabrics and Straightgrain Patterns teamed up for this blog tour, I was in!  The new Whistle collection by Jenny Ronen is such a sweet and whimsical collection that inspired me to make a Nova dress….probably my favorite of An’s dress patterns.

Out of the Whistle fabric collection, I chose to use Birch’s organic quilt poplin.   However, there are so many great jersey knits available too.  I had such a hard time deciding which patterns I wanted to use.  But then I remembered how much my SIL loved the Nova Dress I made for a niece and I wanted to make one for her daughter.  I chose a simpler small scale print like this Tiny Steps in Blush which would help show off the smocking and then chose Treehouse for a fun surprise lining.

What I love about Straightgrain Patterns are the number of options with each of her patterns.  This Nova Dress, alone has 140 different combinations!  They make for such an incredible value and I love how I can make a unique dress for all of my nieces.  Now that it is officially fall, I made this version of the Nova dress with long sleeves so it can be worn with bare legs right now, but can go into the winter with some thick cable knit stockings and boots later.

This pattern has 4 different types of pleating and the honeycomb smocking is my favorite.  I tell everyone to learn dress-making techniques on little girl versions and I completely learned to do this following An’s thorough instructions.  I just love all of the texture and visual impact.

The smocking does take extra time and there is hand sewing involved to tack the pleats together.  But it is all worth it!  I like using contrasting thread to highlight the design and to complement the fabric.

For the blog tour, I inserted an invisible zipper versus the ribbon tie I used on this version. Considering the seasons, a fully covered back was more appropriate and I love the ease of a zipper for dressing.  I happened to just buy an invisible zipper foot for my machine and of course, don’t know why I waited so long!  With the right foot, you can hardly tell there is a zipper at all!

Another special feature I added to this dress are the buttons.  I had an old kit for making covered buttons stashed away and knew these little birdies would be perfect for them.  I used light interfacing to help stabilize the fabric and cut them to size.  It was so easy that I know there will be many more covered buttons in my future.

Birch Organic fabric handled and washed very well.  It has the same weight as other designer quilt fabrics, but that GOTS certification gives you so much peace of mind.  I’m so happy to send this dress off to my niece and know its all organic 🙂

To follow along on the rest of the Birch Fabric x Straightgrain Patterns Blog Tour, check out of the blog links below:

Birch – Knee Socks and Goldilocks – Petrol & Mint – The Crafty Kitty – Christinaa – Just Add Fabric
Love You Sew (you are here) – My Petite Sophie – While She Was Sleeping – StraightGrain – Made By Sara

 

Project Details:

 

Happy Sewing Friends!

 

Cristy

 

Fabric and patterns were provided by Birch Organics and Straightgrain Patterns for this post.  As always, all opinions are my own.  I’ve bought products from both companies before this post and definitely will following it.

Amalfi Dress with Indiesew

My family and I traveled quite a bit this summer.  With two boys and a pop-up camper, we have been driving all over the midwest (with another adventure planned later this fall!)  We just got back from camping along Lake Ontario (close to Niagara Falls) and every sunset reminded me of this Retro Striped Cotton Linen fabric from Indiesew.  It has such a gorgeous soft palette with a 70s vibe which made it a perfect pairing with the relaxed fit of the Amalfi Dress designed by Hey June Handmade.

Linen is perfect for these dog days of summer with its breathability and soft feel.  This blend with cotton gives it a bit more structure so it doesn’t wrinkle as easily as 100% linen does. The best part of linen is how it gets even softer with each wear and washing, not to mention it’s an easier woven to sew versus a rayon challis or crepe.

With the Amalfi dress, I decided on the flutter sleeves with the throwback feel of this stripe print.  I debated for awhile whether to make the midi or short skirt length and since I’m short with wide calves, midi lengths cut me at my widest point and make legs looks larger than they are.  So I opted for the short length and hemmed it a full 1″ to get it to the right spot above my knees.

With the fabric being described as “semi-opaque,” I wasn’t sure how that would translate for  dress.  But sure enough, It’s fine!  After washing, the fibers contract closely together and only the cream parts have the slightest bit of transparency.  I made sure to have the darker parts of the striping across my rear, just in case.  With nude colored undergarments, you can’t see a thing!

Any dress pattern with pockets gets and extra star in my book.  I LOVE these deep in-seam pockets!  With the fullness of the skirt, you don’t have to worry about odd bulges when you are made to carry your kid’s actions figures and Pokemon cards.

You know I made sure to match my stripes 😉  It takes more time, so much more patience and lots of extra pins, but this is the beauty of home sewing.  I love how the skirt looks and you can hardly tell there are pockets at all.  When matching the bodice, I did match the stripes at the armscye.  But with the bust dart, it throws off the pattern just a little bit…but that’s what your arms cover!

Since I am petite, V-necks tend to lay low on me and I was very happy to see I didn’t have to make any adjustments to this neckline.  It’s the perfect depth to fit over your head while still being modest and keeping the “ladies” hidden.  I like the neck facing to keep these lines nice and crisp.

The elastic waist is such a great feature.  I love the shaping and this dress will move with weight fluctuations.  I happen to be a bit heavier right now (thanks to all of those campfire hotdogs and s’mores,) so I’ve been making garments with a bit more ease or have elastic.  Thank goodness for  stretch!

I received so many compliments with this Amalfi dress already.  My husband even said it was such a pretty print!  I hope you enjoy making this dress or just pick up some of your own Retro Striped fabric!

Project Summary:

 

Happy Sewing!

Cristy

 

Fabric was provided by Indiesew for this blog post.  All thoughts and opinions are always my own.

Highlands Wrap Dress

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Yay!!!  I knocked off one of my 2018 “Make Nine” goals with this Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson.  I haven’t blogged about all my completed projects, but I’ve sewn 6 out of the 9 patterns I selected the beginning of the year.  With just under five months left, I think I’ll be able to make everything on my list!  You can read all about my 2018 garment goals here.

I made the Highlands dress earlier in the spring, but just haven’t had a chance to blog about it until now (blame it on my kids and other sewing commitments!)  This dress has been worn on so many occasions already and has lived up to my expectations for sure.  The slim column silhouette makes my 5’3″ frame look so tall and the length adds to the sophistication.  I love how the Highlands dress covers the body, but still has a bit of sass with the high slit skirt and deep v-neck.

For the fabric, I chose this Telio stretch chambray with a crazy cute pineapple (!!!) print from Fabric.com.  You can see this dress, plus read up about this substrate on the original Fabric.com blog post I wrote for them here.  After a few months of wear, I can say the fabric still feels great and still has nice stretch and recovery.  However, I did have to wash it twice to get all of the extra dye out of it.

My wardrobe doesn’t have many short-sleeved dresses.  They are mainly long or sleeveless altogether.  So, I wanted to make the sleeved version so I don’t necessarily have to bring a cardigan with me everywhere!

I’m heavy in the calve area and I don’t like dress hems to hit me at one of the widest parts of my legs, so I’m not a “midi” length lady.  That’s why I also chose the maxi length.  After following a few people on IG who made this dress, it was safe to say I would need to shorten it by 5″.  But beware – There are two shorten/lengthen points on the skirt (one for the rise and one for the leg length.)  Make sure to shorten at the lower of the two lines or you end up raising the slit like I did. (Doh!)  That was one mistake I made which I didn’t realize until I had a slit high up my thigh!  Since I already sewed on the facings, I had to hand-stitch the slits together a few inches.  That was a hard lesson learned!

What I love about this wrap dress pattern are the two button tabs (one inside and one right under the ties) to keep the bodice secured.  If you have ever worn a RTW dress that just uses ties, you know that they will end up untying at the most inconvenient…er..most embarrassing times…even when you double-tie.  I know I’m not alone here, right?  With the two tabs AND the tie, this wrap dress feels VERY secure.

Project Details:

  • Pattern:  Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson
  • Fabric:  Telio stretch chambray
  • Sizing: I measured 6 in the bust and 8 in the waist/hip, but made a straight 6 so there wouldn’t be as much bunching around the back elastic.  I also used a 10% stretch fabric.
  • Alterations:  Shortened skirt by 5″
  • Thread: Gutermann Polyester
  • Machine: Juki TL-2010Q

 

Happy Sewing!

Cristy

This post may contain affiliate links.  If you make a purchase, I could receive a small commission which helps to keep this website going.

Girls’ Racerback Dresses with the Indigo and Aster Fabric Blog Tour

What I miss by having two boys, I tend to make up by sewing my for nieces.  There is nothing cuter than little versions of dresses I would make for myself!  I definitely indulge them quite a bit and that was the case when this lovely La Floraison jersey knit from the Indigo and Aster fabric collection arrived at my doorstep.  These flowers had to be made into a sweet little dress for my niece’s upcoming birthday and then it turned into another dress for her new baby sister…and then turned into adding a top for their mom as well.  I couldn’t stop when the fabric is this beautiful!

This vibrant floral print is from the new Bari J. fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics.  While the main focus is on all the animals (you HAVE to check them out!) it wouldn’t be Bari J. without some of her signature painted flowers.  I love how these pinks and blues pop against the white background.

My feisty little niece here is turning three soon and still loves her dresses and being quite active too.  I made her some Racerback dresses before and really enjoy this simple (and FREE!) pattern by Hey June Handmade.  It’s a clean A-line silhouette and the fact that it’s made for knits means easy dressing and more play!

And when making a dress for one girl, there was no way I could leave out my newest niece.  She deserves some handmade love too.  I mean, look at those rolls!  <3  Fortunately, this Racerback dress pattern takes up very little fabric and everything came together quickly with the four-way stretch knit.

After thinking about my nieces being cute in their matching outfits, I thought I’d add my sister to the mix because….why not!?!  To keep with the racerback style, I sewed up the Rumi Tank by Christine Haynes.  You can see other versions of this tank I’ve made here because I absolutely love it and it’s a definite tried and true pattern for me.

Look at my ladies.  Making all of these garments was SO worth it and and you can see how one idea quickly led into three!  The cute factor is pretty high…from my completely biased post of view 😉  I just love how nice this print looks on my niece and my sister.  It’s playful enough, yet the design bring out a sophistication as well.

With so many great colors, the  La Floraison jersey knitis also great for using up some smaller pieces of scrap fabric, like some Art Gallery Solid Knit in Dark Ocean.  I made sure to differeniate the dresses a little bit to help my sister with laundry time!  We all know how little clothes can get misplaced often…

Don’t forget to swing over to Bari J.’s blog  to keep up with the #IndigoandAsterFabric blog tour and check out what you might have missed.   There are so many good projects, my head is swirling with so many new ideas!  What would you make from these gorgeous fabrics?

Happy Sewing Friends!

Cristy

***Fabric was provided as part of the Blog Tour.  Project conception and opinions in the post are always my own.

Laure Dress :: Pattern Review

The first pattern I ever saw from Straightgrain Patterns was this Laure Dress in the Quipao version.  I was clicking away on Instagram and stopped in my tracks when I saw this adorable pattern!  Being of Chinese decent myself, these dresses always catch my attention…especially in fresh modern fabrics.  (And yes, I actually own two Quipaos, but in more traditional red and gold brocades.)  Since I don’t have girls of my own, I knew I would one day make these for my nieces…because I’m just the best aunt, you know 😉

Today marks the first day of the 2018 Lunar New Year (Year of the Dog) and I just had to share these with you!  This was such an important and fun time in my house while growing up.  We would have huge feasts and celebrate with lots of fireworks in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.  Now, in Columbus, the celebration is a bit smaller but just as fun as I hope to pass on the traditions to my boys.

Traditionally, children receive these red envelope filled with money to bring good fortune and health into the new year.  I’m hoping these dresses will also bring them lots of good cheer and love too, since I’m still in love with this Spirit Animal (aff link) fabric by Tula Pink.  Although the good luck color of the new year is red, I thought the girls would get more use out of these great colors and the small scale silhouettes would be perfect to wear all year around.

One of the great style features of any Quipao is the piping along the mandarin collar and down the front of the dress.  I knew this was a step I could not skip, but finding the right color in pre-made piping was not easy.  Because of ease and look, I tend to buy pre-made piping from the big-box stores.  (They do a MUCH better job than what I could make!)  With the bright colors, I could not find any piping…  However, I could find pretty close matches when it came to pre-made single fold bias tape.  I used this along with some cotton cording from my stash to make my own piping (reluctantly, of course.)  I don’t have a special foot, so I just use my zipper foot, a basting stitch and tried to sew as close to the cording as possible.

This process adds some time…especially when you’re like me and need two passes to get in close to the cording.  But look at the results!  The piping really highlights the curve of front yoke and brings out the colors in the fabric. *High-five!*

It’s been awhile since I had to insert an invisible zipper, but after a few seam rips, I was able to get pretty close even without a specialized foot.  I used my regular zipper foot and made sure to stitch slowly right in the zipper fold along the teeth.  My awl saved me through this step!

I know you all like to see the guts of my garments, so this is the inside lining of the Laure.  I serged the bottom ends and left most of the inside top seams raw after trimming them down with pinking shears.  The lining hides almost all the seams, so there is no need to serge them after sewing.



The only invisible zipper I could find was about 20″ and the pattern calls for 12″.  I sewed back and forth along the teeth at the 12″ mark and then cut the zipper 1/2″ below that.  To seal up the zipper tape so it doesn’t fray with wear, I use a lighter to flame it juuust until it melts.  You can use a seam sealant like fray check (aff link) if you aren’t comfortable using a lighter.

After giving the dress a final pressing, I secured the lining down by making a few stitches to the side seam allowance.  This helps the armscye stay straight and prevents the lining from flipping up with wear.

I love how the Quipao version of the Laure Dress came out and I can’t wait to make some of the other versions of this pattern. It comes with plenty of other neck, body and skirt options for more looks of the western world 😉  Check out the other options here.

Do you have any special cultural holidays or traditions you share with your family?  I love hearing about what they rest of the world does..tell me about them in the comments!

 

Happy Lunar New Year, Friends!

Cristy