Made by a Fabricista: Spring is for Shirtdress

I love shirt dresses! My pattern collection reflects this (I may or may not have eight shirt dress patterns) but somehow my closet does not. I have just two DIY shirt dresses (Mimi G's Katie dress and Simplicity 8546) and maybe two RTW versions. So it's high time that I added some to my wardrobe.

This polyester blouse weight twill by Milly has the perfect weight and drape for a relaxed shirt dress. If you prefer a more structured look, stick to a cotton shirting or light weight sateen. I loved this fabric and print so much that I grabbed both colorways. Unfortunately this fabric is sold out, but you can browse other shirtings and blouse weight fabrics here.

This fabric has a somewhat slinky feel, but isn't truly slippery. There's also a slight sheen without being shiny like a satin. It was easy to cut and sew, but I did get a few snags when pinning so make sure you use sharp pins and a fresh machine needle. I serged my pieces before assembling the pattern because as most twills it is also prone to fraying.

I chose to sew McCall's 8030 mainly because it's the newest shirt dress pattern in my collection. Also because it was a more relaxed style with dolman sleeves. In my opinion details like the sleeve cuff and collar would be lost due to the graphic nature of the print so I chose view B. I did change the hem because I love the shirttail hem of view A, but prefer the length of view B length. To make this modification I traced the curve of hemline the view A onto copy paper and then traced that curve to the hemline of view B.

I love sewing firsts and this is my first D ring belt! There's nothing difficult about it. It's basically constructed the same as any tie belt, but you need to interface and loop one end around two d-rings and stitch.

I am in love with the dress and so happy that I still have the yellow version to use for another project. Can't wait to end social distancing so I have somewhere to wear it too. Stay safe!

See you next month,

Tiffany of TipStitched

#stayhomeandsew

Made by a Fabricista: Summer DIY Print Mixing

Hello Gems! It's still summer and it's a hot one! I'm not a shorts and t-shirts type of gal, as you all may know by now. That is, unless the occasion calls for it of course! I'm more of a casual chic, flirty two piece, with a little bohemian vibe on top type of gal! So you can find me beating the heat in these last days of summer in this cool and comfy backless tiered flounce sundress. Oh, and let's not forget the puff sleeves! This whole vibe sums up the summer! And nothing says it better than zebra and tribal print! I coordinated the rayon rugged Tribal print crinkle challis with this rayon zebra print challis. These two prints look absolutely amazing together. They are both very drapey fluid fabrics that fair well as summer garments. They are breathable and feel so light and cool against the skin. Challis fabrics make great flounce and it's not too light weight that you have to line it. I absolutely adore both of these prints. Zebra print is one of those pr

Made by a Fabricista: Fast Sews and Cool Summer Fabrics

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing a few things made with my favorite summer fabrics - cotton, linen and rayon - and as an added bonus these are all super quick sews. Each of these projects took me no more than 2-3 hours to sew. My house gets too hot to sew some summer days, so projects I can whip up quickly are great for that limited amount of time that I have. The first two items I made up as a set, but of course they can also be worn as separates. The top is the I Am Patterns Gaia tank made with a stunningly gorgeous cotton challis. Call me naive but I had no idea cotton challis was even an option! I'd only ever seen challis in rayon. This cotton though is simply a dream to work with, and if you run across it I highly suggest snagging some. The top is a simple V-neck with a facing but what makes it special are the gathers at the shoulder, made by simply adding a bit of ribbon or fabric in a tube. The combination of this pattern with this light cotton fabric is the per

Made by a Fabricista: Summer Ain’t Over Yet

All of my fellow Fabricistas have been looking toward starting their fall wardrobes. But this year, I’m riding my summer vibes right until their official end in mid-September, because I’m doing something a little different: going on a beach vacation after Labor Day! Now is as good a time as any to tackle my first swimsuit, and I have to say, it was a great experience. And of course, I’d need a cover-up too. Fabric Mart had everything I needed to try my hand at a swim suit. I knew I wanted a bright, colorful patterned suit that was more likely to hide any construction flaws, so I picked this really fun nylon/lycra and it just screamed summer fun. Since I wasn’t sure which lining would work best, I ended up picking up the plain black swimsuit fabric to line with, since I read that you can line with swim fabric. It ended up being thicker than I imagined, but for me, I felt like this worked great because the recovery of the two fabrics together is excellent. The fabric is great quality. I

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