Made by a Fabricista: The Night and Day Dresses!

My black dress, made with some Milly floral taffeta

Hi everybody, I just love wearing dresses during summertime! For this month's post I was supposed to post only one project, but finally decided to play with two gorgeous fabrics Fabric Mart has currently in stock. Here am I with 2 looks created from the same pattern: one dress for night time and one dress for daytime!

Night time: The Milly floral taffeta dress

Aren't you in love with all the Milly fabric collection FM has posted recently? Well, I am. As soon as I saw this gorgeous floral taffeta I knew I had to do something with it! This black taffeta has a thin, somewhat crisp hand, an features beautiful embroidered flowers in a neon pink shade that add a lot of visual interest to the fabric. Like it, want it? It's still available here! There is also another colorway, here.

Taffeta is a bit challenging to sew - it has no give at all so you have to be very precise in the cutting and assembling. Also, the seam ripper and the taffeta don't like each other, ripping a seam can leave marks not to mention the risk of making holes. It also has the tendency to fray quite a bit, so I serged the side seams and bottom seams as soon as it was possible. What helps with keeping the seams light is to use lightweight thread like Gutermann Mara 150 for serging, and of course a Microtex sharp needle is in order for precision and good looking stitches.

For this dress I decided to use a TNT pattern (please see at the bottom) - better when you want to avoid over manipulating the fabric and dealing with lots of adjustments. I thought I had vowed to retire that pattern since I've probably made it 20+ times in my sewing career, but I thought that with a slight modification it would be perfect for my Milly taffeta.

Do you spot the design change I made to this dress? You're right, I raised the neckline and gave the shoulders more of a cut out look. This is a dress I'll be wearing for a night out on the town or for cocktail type events.

Here is a close up so you can appreciate the texture and color - I love this fabric!

Daytime: The white linen dress

I've been wanting to add a white linen dress to my summer wardrobe for a while 'cause it feels so fresh! This is a piece of linen I stashed last fall during one the amazing FM's sale, and white is in stock as we speak. You guessed it, this is the ever popular designer linen!

It has a beautiful hand and drape, just perfect for a dress. Since white is a bit see through, I decided to fully line it and I used some Bemberg rayon I had on hand, in a delicate skin tone shade (you can catch a glimpse of it below). I don't know for you, but Bemberg is not a fabric I enjoy working with - it shifts, distorts easily and is a bit hard to manipulate. Once you're done though you're so happy you took the trouble - a lining makes a garment look and feel so much better!

My white dress, made with the Designer quality linen

On this picture you can catch a glimpse of the skin tone color lining

I completed this project just last week and wore the dress as soon as it was finished. I don't think I ever owned a white linen dress before. Isn't it nice to be able to sew the garments you want at a fraction of the price of the equivalent in RTW?

The pattern

If you're curious to see which pattern I used for both dresses, it's Style 1528, a vintage pattern from the end of the 80's. I added back neckline darts to take care of some gaping, and I raised the neckline and removed some width at the outer armhole to get the cutout look of the black dress.

I hope you are having fun with your summer sewing, and see you in August for my next post. As usual, thanks Fabric Mart for providing us with great fabric, and thanks to you for reading!

Virginie

from

Jazz Couture

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing Summery ITY

Hi sewing friends! I’m dropping in to share a few makes sewn with ITY fabrics and inspire you to try out this slinky, cool-to-the-touch fabric for hot weather if you haven’t yet, or to recommend some patterns that work fabulously if you already love it. This is by far my favorite knit to wear in summer. Since it moves easily there’s lots of airflow, and it just skims the body. More often than not, it has a four-way stretch that doesn’t grow when worn, so it works great for loads of styles. ITY stands for Interlock Twist Yarn and the knit gives it some wonderful drape and stretch. There are lots of different weights and even some differing textures. Because it’s so fluid, the fabric really resists most wrinkling. I’ve sewn three different weights and prints here to show off just what ITY can do! This white floral is a lighter weight and features a slightly crepe-textured finish, and I think that combined with the large and spread-out floral makes it quite elegant and eye-cat...

Made By A Fabricista: Basics vs Fun Clothes

Every summer I make flowy, pretty dresses because they are so fun for me to make, wear, and they keep me cool as temperatures rise. But when the days get shorter and autumn rolls around, I’m not always confident on how best to transition my summery dresses into garments that will allow for the seasonal changes. In an effort to be more intentional about maximizing the use of my clothing, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to make for August. It’s been a hot summer in New Jersey. From what I can see, it’s been a hot summer across the US. Looking for clothing that will keep me cool, perhaps hide some sweat stains, and allow me to transition between seasons, I decided to make separates that would pair well with each other and allow me to mix and match with the rest of my wardrobe. For the top, I wanted a basic tank top, something I could layer later on. For the bottoms, I wanted flowy, summery pants that can last into brisker weather or become phenomenally cozy in front of my wint...

Made By A Fabricista: From Paris with Love!

Bonjour! I am still in bliss from my recent trip to Paris!! It was much more than I expected and I absolutely fell in love with the city. I can honestly see myself living there one day. I knew before leaving I wanted to make something to fit into the Parisian landscape because I knew it would be a special opportunity. I was inspired by one of my favorite fashion creators Juliette Foxx. Her checked gingham corset and wide leg pants were on my list to remake. For fabric I used this red and white pin stripe denim twill and deep red sateen for the pants. The pattern I used for the corset was McCall’s #M8182 with a few modifications. The fit was a little large so I took it in along the sides and shoulder seam. I then lowered the neckline since the shoulders were taken in. I used the sateen as my lining which gave a great contrast. My pants are my unreleased pattern which happens to be exact from the inspiration. I drafted these last year and have been wo...

Fabric Mart Fabricistas

Search This Blog