Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: A Dress for the Holidays


Every December I want to sew up at least one dress I can wear to holiday escapades and even wear in those official annual family photos with the official fancy photographer.  I assumed it was going to be red this year but this decadent green cashmere/viscose knit (sold out now) grabbed my eyeballs immediately while shopping Fabric Mart's site. It's a drapey, super soft knit that moves like a dream.  The inspiration for my dress was drawn from two gorgeous dresses, one from Pucci and another from Issa (the blue version of this dress was made wildy famous by the Duchess of Cambridge as her engagement dress.)


Viscose is simply another term for rayon, and I've sewn up innumerable rayon knits before, but this one made me very nervous since it was labeled "dry clean" AND it's a cashmere knit-- this is the unicorn of fabrics and it's not easy to purchase yardage otherwise.  But still I decided to pre-treat my fabric at home after doing a swatch test!  I cut out two identical 6x6" swatches, gently soaked one in cool water with a couple drops of mild detergent for 20 minutes, then laid it flat to dry.  To no surprise it shrunk some, but the quality of the material was unaltered!  I also tested out the swatches to confirm this fabric presses best at a very low dry wool setting with a press cloth.  As for the actual sewing, this stuff went right through my machine and serger no problems at all.  None.  I used a walking foot on my sewing machine and ball point needles on both.



I used Vogue 8921, View B for my pattern. I cut my standard size of 16 but did not need to grade the skirt up by two sizes like I'd normally do to fit my figure-- the skirt is quite full with all of the pleating detail.  I also didn't need to lengthen the bodice, skirt or sleeves like I normally would being 5'8" (two inches taller then what Vogue drafts for.)  I made a swayback adjustment on the back waist seam on my paper pattern before cutting.  I stabilized my shoulder seams with Pellon Easy Knit Tape.  



This fabric is a little more sheer than I wanted for a dress so I had to underline it.  I cut a second set of all the pattern pieces (excluding the sleeves) basted them together and then treated the joined materials as a one piece of fabric.  I had *just* enough to underline the skirt but went to my stash and found a grey rayon for the bodice that has a similar hand and weight as my main fabric.  You can see all the innards of it in the pic above, I just threw it on inside out on my dress form.  I used my serger, but I basted the front center bodice seam with my regular sewing machine instead to prevent the bulk of a serged seam.  I also excluded the unnecessary zipper in back.


The material has this very, very slight sheen to it reflecting its intense shade of green in such a lovely way-- I hoped my amateur photography skills had captured that and would show up on a screen. I can't lie, this dress is as comfortable as pajamas, it's true.  I would run and skip if I weren't wearing heels, but I'm much too lady-like for that.


~Kathy from KathySews

What are you sewing for the holidays?

Comments

  1. I bought this fabric too! It is beautiful, but I've been nervous about ruining it so thanks for doing all the pre-wash work for me! Your dress is lovely and will serve you well through the holidays.
    Laurie

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE this on you and have had dreams myself of making Kate Middleton's famous blue Issa dress, so this definitely has inspired me.

    Great work, Kathy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome!! This design looks pretty cool. Initially I used to buy fabric blocks for my these designs but these days I use whole fabric and cut the blocks as needed. I also customize the whole fabric accordingly in terms of cutting & designing. We can save a lot of time and money quilting if we do things properly and with a fixed plan. Thanks a lot for sharing such an informative piece with us. I would like to share one more link which is about quilting and sewing tips at http://www.warpandweft.ca/blog/ .

    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: Did someone say FREE??? All about Free Sewing Patterns

Hi sewing friends! I am SEW excited to share this blog post with you today! This is my fifth post with Fabric Mart since I did a guest post late last year and then joined the blogging team in 2024 but I would say this is the post that 1) I worked the hardest to create, and 2) the one that has me the most excited! Today I am going to talk about FREE sewing patterns, showcase a few free patterns I’ve sewn, and then share some very exciting news at the end of this post about an upcoming! First, let’s talk about free patterns – where they come from, why they exist, and how you can find them. But first, here’s a recent free pattern I sewed. This is the Finn Crop Tee from Petite Stitchery . I used an ITY (Interlock Twist Yarn) for this one and I was able to squeeze it out a yard of a fabric. ITY is one of my favorite fabrics to dress up a t-shirt and it wears well across all seasons. And Fabric Mart gets the most AMAZING designer deadstock designs you will ever see! Petite Stitchery offers...

Made By A Fabricista: Fall is here!

Fall is here, and I have been in a coat/cape mood lately! I have a few that I plan to make, however, this pattern was not in the plans. It was in my stash, but it wasn’t on my “must make” list. I wanted to make a coordinating set but I thought it might be a little too much with this print. Now, I absolutely love animal prints, don’t get me wrong. I am a sucker for them! When I saw this jacquard double knit I had to have it. Instead, I decided to make an easy, comfortable cape that I can wear casually or dressed up. This pattern and fabric were perfect! The pattern I chose to make is McCall’s 8029. This cape has three designs that you can choose from. I chose to make view C. View C has a hood. All three views have a neck and front facing and a belt/tie. Now, if you are wanting to make a cape but would like something on the easy side, this is your cape! I didn’t realize just how easy this was prior to getting started. This cape has minimal sewing. It doesn’t even require a hem. Which, w...

Made by a Fabricista: Structure

Hi everyone!  I can’t believe the year is nearly wrapping up already and this is my last post for 2024! You may have noticed but the barrel silhouette has been very much in right now from pants to sleeves.  To be honest I was a little bit hesitant about hopping on to the trend.  One I was not sure if the proportions would work for my body also I considered would this be a long lasting trend to keep incorporated in my closet?  But after a few seasons the barrel seems to stay in many variations, I think exaggerated proportions are such a thing now.  I saw this Cult Gaia x Gap denim dress collab with the barrel sleeves and wanted to remake it.  When I saw this brown distressed denim twill I knew it was perfect.  I had been debating between making cargo pants but I wanted to try to do something different and went for the dress once I saw the inspiration.   I used McCall’s pattern 8139 as my base with the following modifications.  Instead of...