Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: Spooky Season Hasn’t Ended Yet!



When fall started and we moved into Spooky Season I knew I wanted to make something a little witchy. I’d been eyeballing Stitch Witch’s patterns for some time, and after some back and forth on which pattern to make, I landed on the Harlow Dress. I really liked the neckline, the cute elasticated sleeves, and I didn’t have a pattern already with a princess seam a-line skirt. 

I’m a huge sucker for linen, and after perusing Fabric Mart’s stock I decided on this beautiful black linen with a subtle rose jacquard weave. I loved how at first glance it looks plain, but when it hits the light the roses appear.

I love to make things much harder for myself than they need to be. My favorite seam finishing technique, especially for a fabric like a linen, is french seams. They’re so neat and I don’t have to worry about anything unraveling, it’s all neatly tucked inside itself. What I didn’t consider was how tricky french seams with neck facings would be. I had to pick out several seams multiple times because the fabric pieces had twisted incorrectly in the flipping of the french seams. 

(Not counting when I attached the back panel on the wrong way.  I just wasn’t paying attention here.) 

And my seams were cut down each time. So most of the seams in this I ended up stitching with the smallest seam allowance I could and overcasting with my machine. I haven’t washed this since making it, but here’s hoping the seams hold up!

Overall I’m pretty happy with this dress.  I took a lot less photos of the construction since I had so many issues, and the black fabric made it kind of hard to see what was going on anyway. I did end up having to raise the body of the dress up about an inch and a half. But I’m looking forward to giving this pattern a second go at a later date!



Finally I’ll leave you with a pic of one of my assistants, laying down on the job. Till next time!


KAYLA  @nebulanovem

Comments

  1. I like the cutout detail at neck. Cute!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You made a very nice dress. I like your styling with the boots , tights and jacket .PS I actually like seeing the dark slip hanging a bit lower then the dress as in the one photo with your arm up..
    Best Wishes, Gail from Pa.

    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: Three Bengaline Basics – A Jacket, Skirt and Vest

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon from Sharon Sews excited to share my latest Fabricista makes with you.  When Fabric Mart offered an array of stretch bengaline suiting fabrics , I choose three different fabrics to sew myself a few basics to be worn as the season transitions from winter to spring. The bengaline fabric I used is a woven rayon/nylon/lycra blend fabric with the stretch running vertically (lengthwise on the fabric) instead of horizontally (selvage to selvage).  It lends itself well to fitted and structured garments, such as jackets, pants, skirts and dresses. Because of the vertical stretch, I folded the fabric cross grain to cut out my fabric pieces so the greatest stretch would go around my body.   I used a stretch needle size 75/11 due to the lycra in the fabric. I also eliminated the interfacing as I discovered this fabric did not like fusible interfacing and I did not have any sew-in interfacing on hand.   Now let’s talk about the garments...

Made By A Fabricista: FROM FABRIC TO FASHION: - The Saguaro Set with Fabric Mart Fabric

The weather in Southwest Florida is finally starting to warm up.  With the warm air and bright sunshine, I have been thinking about refreshing my “at home” wardrobe with some fun easy pieces this year.     I have wanted to make The Saguaro Set for some time now.   When I saw the beautiful selection of rayon challis on the Fabric Mart website, I knew now was the perfect time to get it started.   THE FABRIC I researched a lot to see which fabric would work the best for this pattern.   I chose the Deep Amaranth Pink 100% Rayon Twill Challis for my project.    It is a beautiful color that to me looks more coral. The fabric is light to medium weight and has beautiful drape.  The care instructions said gentle wash or hand wash.   I prewashed the fabric in cold water on the delicate cycle.  However, after drying it on the delicate cycle, the fabric had an almost vintage distressed look.   I was a bit co...

Made By A Fabricista: Revisiting a Pattern After Five Years

Have you ever used a sewing pattern and then immediately vowed never to sew it again? Well, I have. It all began in the spring of 2020 at the start of the pandemic lockdown. I tackled sewing projects that were more challenging to help me grow as a seamstress. There was one pattern in particular that almost did me in, the Seamwork Penny shirt dress. The Penny dress pattern has a classic button-up dress shirt style bodice with a gathered skirt and pockets. It is a beautiful take on a shirt dress, and my sister and I loved it. The only downside is that it was recommended for intermediate-level sewists and I was only an adventurous beginner back then.  I think I had only ever made one button-up shirt before attempting this Penny Dress and it didn’t even have a collar! Despite all of this, I thought “Why not try it, what’s the worst that can happen?”  Thankfully the worst didn’t happen, and the dress turned out surprisingly wearable, but I had some intense frustration at the end. I...