Amish Wedding - Take 3

 In the past several years, we've made friends with several Amish families in our community. And being invited to attend a wedding is kind of a big deal. For the first 2 weddings we went to, I was given a sample of brides fabric to make something to wear. For this one, I bought fabric and made the Vali Dress by Pattern Fantastique

I had made a shirt version last fall, which I love. But that also let me figure out the tricky construction of this bodice.

I bought 4 yards of a navy tonal poly fabric. I used my favorite pocket construction vs. the weirdly cut on pockets in the pattern. 

And because I had made it before, I knew from the top version what changes I wanted to make to the dress. 

Last year I started keeping a notebook of my sewing.  It's the first thing I've really stuck with and I'm glad I did, because my alteration notes are there.  

They say that I added 2" to the skirt length.  I was aiming for maxi and clearly hit midi, which is okay.  I cut a size 20 yoke, but then I cut the 26 sleeve and skirt.  I also put the skirt 2" off the fold for even more room.  What this essentially did was give me more gathers at the top of the sleeve and center front of the skirt.

This is a fun, flowy dress that definitely needs accessories to break it up. While I love how it looks on others, it's honestly not my favorite. All of that being said, this was the perfect dress to wear to an Amish wedding and I received a ton of compliments.

Pictures:  Carolyn from Diary of a Sewing Fanatic

Fabric: Poly something from Belmont Fabric, $6/yard. I had 4 yards

Pattern:  Vali Dress

Sewn:  January 2024

There's Something About Pattern Testing

 I'm not gonna lie, being chosen to be a pattern tester feels good.  It feels like you weren't chosen last for whatever game it is, finally! 

I have been a Chalk & Notch fan since winning a copy of the Pony Tank back in 2017 apparently! So, when the call went out for testers for the Ivie dress, well, I couldn't apply fast enough!

This was my first version and I've already made a second.  For this version I used a cotton lawn from Fabric Mart that I bought last summer, maybe the summer before.  I made a size 22AB and I could have gone up to the CD cup bodice. 

I used my favorite method of installing side pockets, they're only on the front! Style Arc seems to have the only tutorial I can find online. The reason I use this pocket installation is that I can stitch the pocket to the skirt and it helps keep whatever you've put in your pocket from pulling your dress down. 

The only other change I made was to add a third section to the bottom ruffle and that's because that's all the fabric that I had left!  I didn't want to keep a piece that *small.* so fuller bottom ruffle! 

This dress feels a little closer fitting than I'm generally used to and on occasion I feel a bit little house on the prairie, but I love it and have worn it quite a bit this summer. 

I'm really loving midi length or what I would have called tea length growing up. Funny how being 60 and running up and down stairs all day changes your mind on how 'too short' feels. 

Photos:  Carolyn

Pattern:  Chalk & Notch Ivie

Fabric:  FabricMart

Verdict:  Winner :)

This IS My Dress

 Apparently I'm just a Style Arc Fangirl now.  I love my hope dresses, but even more than Hope - I love the Nova Midi Dress.  

It was love at first sight with my very first version, with the only changes to lower the neckline a bit more and add pockets. I wear both version of this dress weekly in the summer and I wear them with sweaters, tights and boots in the winter. 

JB and I try to take a nice vacation yearly. Since I'm not knitting as much as I once was, I try to bring a piece of fabric home from vacation. 

This past January we went to Cancun and while we had an incredibly relaxing time, I'm not in a big hurry to go back. The main reason why - it's just too far from everything. You really have to do all inclusive because there's no place to eat, except at the resort.

Anyway - I bought back this beautiful 3 meter piece of challis that was roughly $4 a meter.

There's not much to say about this dress. I mostly followed the pattern. I did lower the neckline, by 1.5" overall.

(geeze, we really need to pain that light post)

I also added pockets, I used lining fabric for the first pocket piece sewed onto the front, then same fabric for the pocket back. Due to the gathers, I did not stitch the pockets to the front skirt pieces, but I did stitch them to the waist seam.

For this dress, once I had attached each gather, I then serged the seam, pressed it up and then topstitched it. 

While I still don't like how I look in photos - please don't come at me. The menopausal weight is just weighing heavy on me currently. Do yourself a favor and find a friend who makes you feel beautiful when they take your photo.  All photos in this post were taken by Carolyn.

I am currently evaluating all of the challis in my fabric closet for more Novas. And I really, really want to make one in graduating sizes of gingham.  

Let's Catch UP a Little

 When last we met up with our intrepid heroine, she was posting end of summer sewing plans - FOR 2023!  Let's just see how that worked out, shall we?

First up: Nova - made with a challis bought in Mexico in January and sewn up in time to wear on another vacation to Mexico in November.

Second: -That pumpkin coffee print has been sewn and worn multiple times.  

Third: I believe I put this back, but I'm going to have to look. Because I vaguely remember making it, but there's no photographic evidence.

Fourth: I made the flannel PJ top, but not this linen, yet. Also, I don't really love the top, so . . . 

Fifth: I tested the Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress in the extended sizes.  I loved making this dress.  I love the pocket construction and how fun it is (I've even used it on a few of JB's shirts) but I'm having a moment with how I look currently and I'm not in love with any of the photos. 

Sixth:  While I did make a Vali top in October and I also sewed up the beautiful red toile like fabric, the two did not come together. Look for a blog post on this dress soon.

Seven, Eight & Nine have not been touched at all. 

Ten: Eleanor did get a new robe for her birthday.  However, Gigi got a new sewing machine for Christmas and I could not figure out how to get E's monogram from my embroidery stick into the machine (still haven't figured it out 8 months later). And all her dolls got matching robes & pjs - blog post on that too