I was so excited when D&H Fabrics approached me to collaborate with their exclusive fabric collection with Katie Kortman. I was asked to make something using one of the three available prints and I knew I would have to make a statement maxi dress using the Dash fabric with the Derby Dress pattern by Christine Haynes. Katie’s designs are always so colorful and dramatic. I wanted to make a garment that’s also fun, bold, yet approachable – like the designer, herself!
The Derby Dress (aff link) pattern has been in my library for awhile now. I’m a sucker for the classic feminine styles which Christine has in her patterns. I made the knee-length version a few years ago with a rayon challis and it’s still on rotation in my closet. So I knew a full maxi version would get the same wear…if not more!
Fabric
After checking out the available prints at D&H Fabrics, I fell in love with the vibrant pink and red Dash. There was just something about these analogous colors that pulled me in. I admit my garment fabric game is a bit neutral (aka boring) so it felt good to step out of my comfort zone a bit…especially for summer! If you follow Katie on IG, you know she has her own personal movement to get more of us sewists to use fun color combos. I SO appreciate the extra fun inspiration and color push 😉
This gorgeous print is made of a 56″ wide lightweight rayon poplin which is incredibly soft with a soft hand and beautiful drape. The tight poplin weave makes the fabric easier to handle than a rayon challis which is much more slippery. With this more delicate fabric, I like to use a smaller universal needle sized 75/11 or 70/10.
The fabric design is printed directly on a white basecloth and washes very well. Most of these pictures were taken after three washes and yes, even with delicate tumble-dry. (I wash my handmade garments along with my RTW.) The colors remain saturated and I even sweat through this for hours in 90* heat.
Pattern & Modifications
As I mentioned above, I’ve made this Derby Dress by Christine Haynes before and love the flirty ruffle feature — plus it has pockets! I actually use this pocket pattern as my go-to for any dresses which need an in-seam pocket. It’s just a nice shape and perfect size for my hands. I’ve used these pockets on my Sylvie seen here, and my Alix dress found here.
The front of the Derby is drafted with 3 separate panels for princess seams and the back has 4 panels for additional shaping. This is great for a solid fabric or a busy print, but I didn’t want to disrupt the dashes in this fabric design. I definitely did not have enough fabric for all of the pattern matching either…nor the time! So, I used a RTW maxi dress from Target (aff link) I have to work out the width and length of the dress.
I laid the RTW dress over the fabric on the fold and used the facing of the Derby to cut the top of the dress (of course, adding in seam allowances.) The Derby uses two different facings for the front and back, but I took the easy route and made my front and back pieces identical since all of the panel seams we eliminated. I then cut out two of the front facings on their own to match the front and back of the Derby. The straps were later shortened to account for these changes to the neckline.
With the dress lengthened out to a maxi, I also extended the length of the neckline ruffle by 1″ to balance the proportion. I though the ruffle would be cute on the back as well, but it ended up being a bit “too much.” Sometimes you have to know when to edit, and the back looks much better with a clean line. To play with the neck ruffle, I also added a 7 1/4″ (finished) x WOF ruffle to the bottom of the Derby to make it as close to the ground without touching as possible. It adds to the flirty feel of the dress and adds some extra swing.
I LOVE how this maxi version of the Derby came out. The print needed to become a statement dress and I can definitely tell you it turned a lot of heads at the airports! The lightweight rayon poplin was just perfect with the dress pattern for all the great movement. It’s the perfect summer dress for travel and pairs beautifully with my vintage denim jacket….so that means I can also extend the season on this make! Yay!!!
Project Summary
- Fabric: Dash by Katie Kortman for D&H Fabrics
- Pattern: Derby Dress (aff link) by Christine Haynes
- Thread: Gutermann Sew-All Polyester (aff link) – Color 570
- Styling: Sunglasses from J.Crew and Sandals from Target (aff link)
Are you a bold and colorful person or usually a bit more reserved and neutral like myself? I have to admit that stepping out of my usual color scheme was a lot of fun and I’m reaching for this dress a lot more than I thought I would! Try it out if you haven’t already!!!
Hugs and Stitches,
Cristy
The fabric for my dress was provided by D&H fabrics for advertising but I was not contracted to write a blog post. As always, I like to share my makes and good fabric finds 🙂 There are affiliate links in this post and you can read up about my disclosures here.
