Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: Stripes For Spring

Image
By

Hi everyone!  

It’s finally warming up here in southeastern Pennsylvania and I wanted to make a light, flowy dress for springtime. I snagged a vintage Laura Ashley pattern from Joanns on one of my last trips there. I somehow didn’t have anything in my pattern stash with a sweetheart neckline, so I thought it would be a good addition. The pattern calls for a giant gathered skirt, so I knew I would need something lightweight and drapey for it.  Something like a pink striped cotton fine seersucker.

The fabric is light and has a really nice drape, almost like a challis. I knew it would gather beautifully. I  got to work cutting everything out, with help from my assistant.

When I say the skirt is massive I mean it.  I ran into an issue right away where my fabric isn't wide enough to cut the back panel without opening the fabric out. And my three yards of fabric wasn’t enough to cut two back panels. I ran into this issue last year when making my pinafore dress. In that instance I pieced the missing width of fabric. I also could have shortened the skirt. However I got lucky and the fabric was still in stock, so I snagged an extra yard and got the full skirt out of it. This skirt deserves all the length and volume!

The rest of the dress sewed up nicely. I lined the dress with a white challis fabric from my stash, and decided to add a lining to the skirt as well, just cutting out a smaller gathered skirt and tucking the raw edge into the bodice lining with the outer fabric. Since neither fabric had much weight and I kept the lining gathering to a minimum it didn’t add much bulk to the waist seam. 

The dress has an interesting overlapping design in the back that was fun to put together. And these wonderfully oversized patch pockets on the front.  They hold my phone no problem but be warned, they will snag on passing doorknobs!

I’m looking forward to sewing up more cute and flowy garments for the spring and summer season! I’m also picking up a serger this weekend, so stay tuned for my foray into knits! 

KAYLA  | @nebulanovem

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 25, 2025 at 10:16 AM

    I live in S.E. Pennsylvania, too, and yes, great weather now, perfect for your beautiful new dress! That is a very pretty wrap design on the back bodice - you'll look good coming and going!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 23, 2025 at 10:05 PM

    What is the pattern number on the pink dress

    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: In Love with Linen

By
Linen is the best fabric to sew and wear. I selected a beautiful 100% linen from Fabric Mart that is a steel blue and cream floral linen to sew up a By Hand London Hannah Wrap Dress pattern. The flowers look like Dahlias. I originally sewed a Toile from a black and white cotton bedsheet, wore the dress a lot but never made it again. I gave the Toile away to a friend who always commented on how much she loved the dress. When I saw this fabric, I knew I wanted to make the Hannah again. Linen is so easy to sew the entire experience reminded me why linen remains one of my favorite fabrics to sew. I look for a light to medium weight  European linen for a dress. I like a rayon or cotton blend with linen because it seems to have more drape and be more soft. Linen gets softer with washing and wearing it. This particular linen feels crisp and after ironing and washing, softens up. I like how Fabric Mart describes the fabrics as top, dress, blouse, shirt weight under “Use” and will describe...
4 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: The Sheer Volume Of It All!

By
This garment was inspired by a dress I saw in an ad, and when I went to purchase it (which I rarely do)…I realized that the dress didn’t come in my size. Ticked off and with $300 back in my pocket, I decided to draft it myself. The description listed the fabrication as a silk cotton voile, so I used that as a starting point to recreate the simple yet elegant silhouette.  My drafting experience is limited; I’ve only ever made garments that are pleated rectangles that fit into an elasticated waist. No darts, no complicated calculations, and definitely no sleeves. But I’d have that dress if it’s the last thing I do! I made a drawing, created a Pinterest board to document my inspiration, and narrowed down the features I really wanted to have: billowy bubble-hemmed bishop sleeves (say it three times fast!), a fitted and lined bodice, and a gathered tiered skirt. Finally, it was time to shop for fabric. I knew I wanted a silk blend of some kind, without breaking the bank. For weeks, I ke...
14 comments
Continue Reading »

Made by a Fabricista: What's Black and Gold with Chevron All Over? This DIY Pant Suit, That's What!

By
Hope you're having a Golden day, get it? [I crack myself up sometimes!] This DIY pant suit is golden for sure.  So tell me this, were you one of the lucky ones who were able to grab some of this fabric when Fabric Mart posted their new arrivals? I jumped on it so fast it was crazy and before you know it "poof" it was gone. So sorry I don't have any links to this fabric but all is not lost, you can use something else for these patterns. Try looking in the suiting selection for the blazer. The other awesome option is denim  and as  always check the New Arrivals. I went to my "tnt"  blazer pattern for this project because I knew the metallic bias around the edges would look fab and I was on a mission to make another pair of mimi g's jeans and trim the seams in metallic bias as well. I recommend both of these patterns to any level sewist. I did a little pattern hack on the blazer pockets to make them a little more interesting and I made a pic...
42 comments
Continue Reading »