Made By A Fabricista: Flounces, Ruffles & Ikat-Inspired Prints-Yes Please!

Hello Sewing Friends,

I am excited to share my May Fabric Mart Fabricista projects with you all. I stumbled upon two beautiful Ikat inspired printed fabrics and knew I needed to sew something for my Spring/Summer wardrobe.  The fabric with the black background is a double border print cotton sateen shirting.  

The other fabric is a rayon/cotton print voile. Originally, I was considering using them together to make a garment. But when they arrived I realized they did not work well together and needed to stand alone. 

I decided to make dresses using Butterick 6677, and make some modifications. 

I made version A with hemline variations and love how both dresses turned out. For my first dress, I wanted a midi length dress and a ruffle hemline. So I cut out view A as well as the ruffle for vies B & C. Then, instead of creating a single layer ruffle, I folded my assembled ruffle piece in half, creating a double layered and shorter ruffle. This created the exact length I wanted. I also lined the bodice as this fabric is a bit light weight. I wanted a little more structure to the bodice to hold the flounce detail. Instead of lining the skirt portion, I decided to wear a half slip. 

I love the flounce detail as well as the pockets!  The elastic at the waist cinches the dress in and makes it very flattering and easy to wear. 

The pattern instructions were easy and pretty clear. The flounce is stitched on to the bodice and not under with seaming.  Since the flounce is single layered, you do want to be careful of fabric selection. You do not want fabric with a distinct wrong side as it will be visible. 

For the second dress, I knew I wanted to show off the border print. I cut view A again, but this time I lengthened the dress as shown below so I could show off the border at the hemline of the dress. Basically, I  placed the hemline cut line of the shirt pattern piece at the top of the border. This way, I’d get the maxi dress length of B/C but with an a-line hemline. 

I like this dress so much, I’ll probably make one more with a border print, but I would make it the length of view A instead. After making these two dresses, I realized my closet is full of maxi dresses but I’m lacking in knee dresses. 

I really love this fabric. The strong contrasting colors and the colorful border makes this 100% cotton fabric a real showstopper. 

Both dresses are great additions to my handmade dress collection. The ikat-inspired fabrics, the ruffle and flounces and the pockets are all a yes for me. 

Let me know in the comments, so you like Ikat and Ikat inspired fabrics?  What about the dress pattern-have you made Butterick 6677 before? 

See you all next time!

Hugs,

SHEREE   | @shereesalchemy

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Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following category: COTTON, SHIRTING, & VOILE.