Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: Sweet and Spicy

Summer is finally upon those of us in this part of the world! June is one of my favorite months. It’s the first time it really feels like summer, it stays light outside past 8pm and it is Pride Month! Pride is a yearlong allyship in my house and I try my best to always listen, show up, see and support my friends and family in the LGTBQIA+ community. Although Pride Month is only once a year, who you are and who you love should be celebrated year-round, not just once a year!

For this month’s make, I knew I wanted to be conscious of my fabric choice this time since it is summer, and it’ll be over 100 degrees here daily soon so I wanted something breezy and light. I opted for this black and white printed crinkle chiffon and found the perfect dress in the Roseclair Dress by Cashmerette Patterns.

I opted for the paper version of this pattern, so I had to get to cutting my tissue paper out. This can be a tedious and frustrating task, so I like to get prepared for the process with an episode of whatever podcast I’m listening to currently to. To make it even easier, I like to iron my tissue patterns on low to get all the wrinkles out. Then, I use an old blade in my rotary cutter and lay my pattern pieces out on my cut table and cut it like fabric. It makes it go so much more smoothly AND quickly! 

This particular fabric was sheer, so I needed to do double layers of everything that needed to be covered – bodice, top and middle skirt. When I tell you this fabric is not for the faint of heart… I mean it! As a singular layer, this fabric is breezy and gorgeous. When working with multiple layers, everything slips and slides and takes three times the amount of time to do anything!

My pro-tip for working with super slippery fabrics is to use either washable spray adhesive to keep your layers together, or to use washable glue sticks around the edges! I know it sounds weird – but I promise it will save your sanity! I used glue sticks for my project and it was a huge time saver. As mentioned, I also chose to double up layers of my fabric for coverage but also to skip out on having to line the dress. This pattern doesn’t call for a lining, but with this fabric being sheer it needed layers. I chose to glue the edges together and then treat the pieces like one, so I created the bust darts across both pieces instead of sewing them individually. Another good time saver!


 I wanted to be able to style this dress sweet and spicy and changed up the look with shoes and accessory swaps. For my sweet, I opted for a hat and a cute pair of closed toe wedges. 

For my first spicy look, I went with some of the harness accessories I have. I’ve seen these pop up all over social media lately and knew I wanted in on the trend. I made this chest harness from some leftover faux leather in my stash and some rivets and o-rings from some other bag making projects.

I also really wanted to style this waist belt I recently picked up, so I layered that overtop the dress and I love the different look it gives! I really like the contrast between the ruffled tiers and the metal chains, and I think the black and white pattern is fun, but not too overbearing with the bold accessories.

This fabric was challenging to work with, but I know that I will get a lot of wear out of this dress this summer. The instructions were straightforward and easy to work through, and I already have plans to make another version of this dress – but this time in a single layer fabric!


Thanks for reading – happy sewing!

CHELSEA @thatssewchelsea

Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: CHIFFON.
You can also find our collection of Cashmerette Patterns HERE.

Comments

  1. Way cool accessories! Plus I'm thinking of the Roseclair in a flowy fabric so it's good to see how that will look.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This garment is amazing on you each way you styled it. Thanks for the glue tip for sewing layers of slippery fabrics. Enjoy your summer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! You really put a lot of thought into how you can vary the look just by changing up your accessories. Smart fabric and pattern choices here - you'll get so much mileage from just one piece! I love it.

    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: Workwear Ready

I'm excited for my first post in 2023! At the beginning of the year, I recently went back to working in person so now I am looking to make and wear pieces that I can wear to work.  The goal is to be functional but also very fashionable since I am a fashion design professor. I saw this blue denim fabric and knew I wanted to make some pants; I just wasn’t sure what kind.  I decided to make Mimi G x Simplicity S8985 View B pants.  I liked the oversized flare look, I just made one slight modification to them by adding a pintuck along the front.  This was easy to add since the waistline was called to be slightly gathered to fit.  The fabric had a hand closer to linen and was very lightweight which was great and very satisfying to sew.  I lengthened the pants by 3” and finished with a 2” hem. The top I used Simplicity S9707.  It’s an oversized partial button down top.  I decided to create a high low hem by combining two different views.   I loved the print of the fabric but honestly as s

Made By A Fabricista: Spring into 2023 with Liberty of London!

Hi Fabricista Fans! I'm excited to be back with my first FabricMart project of 2023 and my second with Liberty of London Tana Lawn ! This fabric is so luxurious and wonderful to work with, I just can't pass it up whenever I see it come on sale! With such a high thread count, Liberty of London doesn't easily crush, and although it's 100% cotton, it's so flowy that it's perfect for billowy dresses, blouses, and skirts. With my $50 budget this month, I purchased 2 yards of Tana Lawn and made a Peony Patterns Rosemary Dress with inseam pockets for my youngest daughter. This is a gorgeous button down dress with long and short puff sleeve options. After cutting it out, I realized I had plenty leftover for a skirt for my eldest, so I whipped up the FREE Peony Patterns Apple Berry Skirt for her. Since she needed a top to go with it, I raided my stash for some additional fabric, and found a lovely eggshell Fabric Mart Rayon Lycra hidden away. (Don't worry, I still ha

Made By A Fabricista: A Denim Set for Spring

Happy Friday All! I am ecstatic to share my latest make that I had on my to make list for a while.  My goal for the month of February was to sew a mini vacation capsule for a trip, but unfortunately I did not get a chance to. I was able to make 3 of the 6 pieces including this denim set. When this beautiful denim fabric arrived, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I have been wanting to recreate a linen look I made a few years ago using the Montoya coat pattern with a few adjustments.  I created VIEW A without the peplum and lengthened it by 6 inches. Instead of sewing the tie inside the seam of the top like I did here, I wanted to make it separate so that it looks like a jumpsuit. (Read the blogpost here ). Moreover, my body has changed and I needed to cut a size larger so that I can rock it as an open vest or a top tucked in. I love the way it turned out but wish I had extended it by 8 inches instead of 6. For the pants, I went to my tried and true simplicity 8605 pants pattern and