Skip to main content

Guest: Lisa from Notes from a Mad Housewife

We are thrilled to have Lisa on the blog today from Notes from a Mad Housewife.
She is one of our favorite sewing bloggers and when we got in some new rayon challis, we couldn't wait to ask her to make something with one of the prints.
We're so lucky she agreed!
Here is a little about her:

A little about me... I grew up watching my mom sew, and even though I didn't do much sewing myself as a kid, I absorbed just enough to get me started when I got my own machine. Initially my sewing was for things like halloween costumes and dresses for my girls. Then about three years ago it dawned on me that I could sew actual clothes for myself and I've hardly bought a piece of clothing since. I'm married and have four young children, so in addition to sewing my wardrobe I've started working on my husband's, as well as supplementing my kids' closets . I'm interested in functional everyday pieces that get worn on a regular basis, not just the fluffy dresses (though that's fun too!).

Julie over at Fabric Mart contacted me a while back asking me to guest post for their store blog. No need to ask twice! She pointed me to some rayons and I immediately fell for a green and pink floral print. As quickly as I picked my fabric I knew what pattern I wanted. I've drooled for ages over Megan Nielson's darling ranges dress and knew they would be a perfect match. Seriously, sometimes you agonize over these decisions for days, months, years... and sometimes you know in an instant what you want.


I traced off the bodice and knew right away it would take a bit of modifying to get a good fit. I'm no fitting expert but I know if a dart intake is more than 2" i will definitely need to do a SBA. Yay for megan's great blog (and her darling ranges sew-a-long!)  because she has all the directions for bust adjustments. After the SBA I still wasn't sure this was going to 100% fit me, so I decided to muslin the bodice. I knew I wanted darts in the back at the waist instead of ties and I've seen people make bodice length adjustments, so I wanted to test it all out first.

I ended up...
  • lengthening the bodice
  • adding extra width at the waist to the front bodice piece
  • adding back neck darts to prevent gaping
  • moving the shoulder seam forward
  • doing a petite adjustment to get the bust darts in the right locale as well as shorten the armscythe
sheesh! I'm such a fitting mess sometimes!



Just so you know, I'm not crazy about fitting a garment within an inch of it's life, but I have become attune to where I need adjustments. The fit of this bodice was swinging to the back on me (I have a slight forward shoulder), and i knew it would end up uncomfortable and fidgety. I guess if you have the arrow straight back of a ballerina you'd be fine. I don't. also, I'm on the tall side (5'8") but the top quarter of me is actually petite. basically I'm a petite tall with a forward shoulder. Try finding that in RTW! I pinned out 3/4" horizontally for a petite adjustment and that immediately made a huge difference. The other adjustments I listed were mere tweaks to get the perfect fit. So glad I decided to muslin this one!



I transfered the adjustments and I was ready to go. The sewing itself was pretty straightforward and easy. I'm particularly enamored with the pockets and neckline finish. It's not like this is my first inseam pocket, but she does it in a manner I haven't seen before. You attach the pocket bags with a 1/2" SA then sew up the whole side seam and pocket bag in one go with the regular 5/8" SA. The pocket seam is recessed slightly so you don't have to worry about all those dots and crazy markings lining up just so. And really one of the things I liked so much about this pattern is that there are not excessive pattern markings. She simply says to measure down 3" from the waist and attach the pockets there. who needs all those crazy dots?! The neckline also is pure genius. I've done bias facing many times, and here it just disappears into the folded over button placket. No awkward corners to navigate.



I am completely in love with this dress, and the fabric I used is so soft and comfortable, I know it will be a favorite. Rayon can be an unruly beast to work with, but the payoff is worth the hassle. Also, this is the first Megan Nielson pattern I've done and even though the design is fairly simple, I am super impressed. On her blog she once wrote that she wears all her designs before issuing a pattern and is particularly committed to her patterns being wearable for everyday. If it's not comfortable for daily wear it gets the boot. Smart lady! I'm pretty sure I'll be making a few more darling ranges (as well as picking up more of her patterns) because that is exactly the philosophy I apply to my own sewing.



Big thanks to Fabric Mart for featuring me!
—lisa g.
p.s. If you want more information about the pattern adjustments I made, please check out my blog!


Check out our rayon challis! http://www.fabricmartfabrics.com/xcart/challis/
They are great for everyday dresses and flowy tops!
And they come in wonderful prints that are bold and fun!


Have you tried sewing with rayon challis?

Comments

  1. The fit is terrific. Who knew slim girls could be such a fitting challenge? Lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made by a Fabricista: Milo + Citrine

Hello sewing friends! It’s Andrea - @happy.things.here on IG and today I’m on the blog to share some sew inspo on one of my favorite kinds of garments to make – cardigans! I absolutely love making them and wearing them year-round, whether it’s an extra layer for around my house in the winter, as my outermost layer in Spring and Fall, or paired with a dress on a cooler summer evening. I love love love cardigans! And there are so many great cardigan patterns out there – chances are that each of your favorite pattern companies offers multiple cardigan patterns. Button-less cardigans are great beginner patterns, and a handmade cardigan is a lovely personalized gift since it’s more forgiving for fit and you don’t have to know someone’s exact measurements to make one. And you can make them in all sorts of knit fabrics too.  Today I chose two cardigan patterns to share with you that I think bring a little something extra to the table. They are the Seamwork Milo and the Made by Rae Citrine.

Made By A Fabricista: Taking My Time

At the start of the new year I like to reflect on how I will go about my makes for the year.  I noticed this year a lot of people created a Make Nine chart of the 9 main looks they want to make for the year.  For me I had taken a hiatus from sewing towards the end of last year and was fighting to get my sewjo at the beginning of the year.  Making this blog forced me to sit down in front of my machine and these pieces are the first full sewing projects to kick off my year. Starting off I did not know exactly what it was I wanted to sew but I knew I loved working with denim so I got denim and sateen with the initial intent to make a full look with the pieces together.  Once I received the fabric I realized the hand was a little bit different than what I expected and changed my plans. The denim set I am absolutely in love with and was inspired by a look I saw online and decided to recreate.  My favorite details are the zip removable pockets on the pants.  For this look I used McCall’s M81

Week 4: Jeansmaking- What They Made

This is it, the final round! And we certainly did not go easy on our three remaining contestants this time. This round they had to make their own pair of well fitting jeans. I think they all did an absolutely outstanding job! Take a look what these ladies accomplished & be sure to vote for your favorite! (Link at bottom of post.) And, don't forget to show us your me-made jeans on Facebook or Instagram. Details at the bottom of this post. Danesha from  Classyfied Life So first I must say that this entire challenge has been just that...a challenge! Two weeks ago there was hurricane Irma and I was blessed enough to not lose power and then I went out into the aftermath to capture some photos of my submission. Then two weeks ago I had a big trip planned so I had to do EVERYTHING  in two days . Then the BIGGEST challenge of all...THIS week! I got the challenge and I was super excited to have an extra few days and then before I could even get started I ended up in the eme