Made by a Fabricista: McCall's 7969 in Crinkle Challis

 

Happy Summer Fabricistas!  I am so thrilled to share this dress with you, I LOVE it, I NEEDED it, I plan on wearing it A LOT!  

Lets start with why I LOVE this dress...the fabric, its a crinkle rayon challis.  

The texture of a crinkle rayon challis speaks to me, it says, "I'm a cool summer fabric" and it promises to float around my body allowing air flow and movement all of which you need when the humidity is near 100%!!  The hand of this fabric is really nice too, soft and very drapey.  I was immediately drawn to the print and colors which will transition into fall beautifully.  I mean just look at those colors and the combined effect, so fun.  

Another reason why I love this dress is the added trims.  I've had these trims in my stash for years, the hand crochet lace on my sleeves was white however with a black dye wash it became the perfect addition to the sleeves.  I also used a trim around the neckline, although it doesn't stand out as much.  

Now, why I NEEDED this dress...

I don't know how your sewing plans go but sometimes mine get into what I'd like to call a functional rut.  It usually starts out with a conversation in my head like this...

"I really should make separates, I mostly wear separates, my lifestyle is mostly separates, how many wears will I truly get out of a dress, my sewing should be practical..." and on and on.

All of these things are true and valid, however practical sewing did not get me INTO sewing in the first place.  What got me into sewing was the gorgeous dresses and full possibility of creating something amazing with my hands.  So I wanted to make something for this post that would honor what got me into sewing in the first place, mainly gorgeous maxi dresses and creative possibility.

I needed this dress because I needed to HAVE FUN creating, and I did!

 An finally I will wear this dress A LOT because of the small changes I made to it that give it a bit of an upgrade.

First of all, I added pockets and a snap.  The pockets do flop around in the dresses skirt but that doesn't bother me as long as I have somewhere to put a hair band and my keys.  The snap at the neckline was needed since without it the dress opened up to reveal my bra.   

Secondly I added waist ties, this dress is very voluminous (note to self there is no need to grade out at the hips for this pattern).  The ties just give it a bit of a cinched in feeling that keeps it from being too sack like.

And last of all this dress just makes me happy and feels wonderful to wear.  The added trims bring me joy and make it look like there was attention to detail in its conception.

 I hope that your summer sewing is going well and that you've made something luxurious.  If you need to find joy in your sewing and get out of a functional rut, I recommend a maxi dress.  But I'm very curious to know what do you do when you get into a sewing rut?  Does the joy leak out of your sewing when you find yourself creating only functional pieces?

Thanks for reading!

Elizabeth

I Sew, You Sew

Also on Instagram at I Sew You Sew