Nova Midi - or the dress without any gingham

I have long had a love/hate relationship with rayon challis.  I mean, I love it because it's cool and comfortable to wear; and the colors are bright and vibrant.

And I hate it because it's slippery as all get out!  I think my love affair with rayon challis really started with my first southport, and I've never looked back.  It really is the perfect fabric for a cool summer dress.

I would like to say that this pattern was on my radar long before my BFF Carolyn made it, but since she carted it to sew camp, and her blog post went live and I purchased it the next day, well . . . 

I made this dress from 4 yards of challis fabric that I bought at Goods Store in East Earl on June 15, 2022.  Goods mostly has quilting cottons and some poly dress fabric that the Amish & Mennonites use for their dresses.  But when evening when I was killing some time, I wandered through the fabric and spotted this challis. When I got home, I saw I had bought the pink colorway of the exact same fabric from FabricMart earlier that year. 

I have 2 regrets about this dress - or maybe 3.

1. I didn't lower the neckline. I find StyleArc's necklines high for my personal taste and I didn't lower this one.  I definitely will next time.
2. I didn't add pockets.  This failure to add pockets in a first make is recurring theme of mine.  Because I'm home a lot of the time and running through this huge house I need to keep my phone with me and pockets are the easiest way. 
3. I didn't finish the seams. I know!  What was I thinking?  It's now been washed a few times and honestly, I'm not sure how much longer it will last.  I think I'll go back in and topstitch the tiers.  Which will add just a bit of finishing and hopefully stop the seam allowances from shredding to bits.

What I did do, I added 1/2" to the top and bottom tiers and an inch to the middle tier.  Why?  Not sure.  Being tall, midi lengths always bother me.  They always feel like something just wasn't quite long enough.  But I didn't add enough to make it a full maxi.

I will say, that it's still long enough I need to grab the skirt to walk upstairs so I don't trip on it.

The twirl factor of this dress is amazing!  And by using challis, while the skirt is really full, it hangs close to my body!  

As Carolyn said in her post, if you don't like gathering, don't make this dress!  There is a LOT of gathering to be done.  I sewed 2 rows of gathering stitches all the way around and gathered toward the center.

If I could get a more consistent gather with either my gathering foot or ruffler, I would have used one of those. 

This was a quick, easy dress to sew and I'm sad I waited almost a year from cutting it out to sewing it up. 

Mod Print S8871

When your BFF comes to visit and offers to take photos of the things you have made but haven't photographed.  Well you take her up on it and you pull the armload of unblogged garments from your closet and you dance and laugh and she makes you look young and pretty!

We're going to start with the oldest make in the pile and the once I have the least information on.  According to the pattern envelope, this pattern was released in 2019.  And I know I bought it because Carolyn made a couple that were fantastic.  

S8871 c. 2019 now OOP

One thing I have learned in my sewing journey is if I admire a piece of fabric or a pattern that Miss C bought, I should buy it because at some point, I'm gonna wish I had.

In scrolling through my pictures, I found that the fabric was purchased on Sept. 9, 2019 during a #CarriageCornerSewCamp field trip to FabricMart. The fabric is a vibrant print linen and I purchased 3 yards.  There might even be some left.  I found a picture of the unfinished dress hanging up at the end of February 2020 and another of it lumped with my sewing fails from the majority of 2019.  

Sewing Fails

So, In all honesty, I can't tell you much about this dress.  What I can tell you is that I love the square neckline and I still think it might be a little too close fitting.  But as always happens, when Carolyn takes my pictures everything looks fabulous! 

I did pull the pattern and looked at my traced version and of course I didn't write down what size I traced or anything.  So, I literally have NO information.  The couple of things I feel confident tell you are these: 

• I did not put a zipper in the back of the dress
• I most likely did a 1.5" sway back adjustment, with .75" at the shoulder ala Nancy Zieman and the rest out of the low back
• I added width to the sleeves

This dress sat in the unloved and unphotographed side of my closet until April of 2022 when I tried it on again. My size had changed a bit and I was willing to try it again.  

I think I've been convinced to keep this one and actually wear it.  So, does a couple years in the magic closet ever convince you to keep something that you thought was a fail?

Also, I'm curious - do you name your garments?  And how do you keep track of what you made along with size, alterations, etc.  

Style Arc Hope Woven Dress

 Just like most of my stories, this one begins with something that Carolyn introduced me to.  This time, it was a new account on Instagram that I wasn't following.  I'm willing to be that you already follow Birdy-Sew-Obsessed, but I didn't before Carolyn and I were chatting about something she made.

I followed as Birdy made a Style Arc Hope Woven Dress in her stories and loved it!  It absolutely didn't hurt that she made hers from black and white gingham and I'm still in need of replacing my absolute favorite dress.

This all must have happened around October last year, because I was on a mission to replace my black and white gingham ESP by Decades of Style.  Also, if you've made this dress and like me, think the neckline is too high, see the 2015 post linked about for how to lower the neckline and adjust the sleeves.

Because I've fussed with the bodice of my ESP pattern since making the Picnic Dress, I know that the bodice needs some fine tuning before I'm really happy with it again.  And for the record - I still wear that dress I made in 2015 because I have yet to make another fabulous dress.  Anyway . . . 

I received a gift certificate for my birthday and used it to buy the Hope Woven Dress pattern.  Then I carefully took my measurements and using the finished garment measurement decided which size to make.  I then pulled a really fun floral linen bought at FabricMart during a #CarriageCornerSewCamp

The dress is a quick sew - even adding pockets.  I use this method of putting pockets in skirts and pants.  It's really easy. Also, using Teri's method for putting in the pockets, still lets you add pockets, even when you don't have enough fabric.  In fact, I often use complimentary fabric for the first piece sewn on.  The only step I do that Teri doesn't show in the story highlight I linked to (Sorry if you aren't on instagram, I couldn't find any video's for putting pockets in this way.) is that I like to also sew my pockets to the front of whatever I'm making.  The benefit of this is that when you put your phone in your pocket, the weight doesn't pull the pocket down pulling everything out of alignment.   Also, don't make your pocket opening too large, just large enough for your hand.

If I remember correctly, the changes I made were to cut the back on the fold eliminating the button loop closure and I lowered the neckline a little bit. For future versions, I would like to try lengthening the sleeves about an inch.

Also, because this dress has a full gathered skirt - I didn't use the skirt pieces.  I just gathered 2 full width lengths of my fabric.  Clear as mud, right?

I don't think the photos show how truly oversized this dress is on me.  Even using the closed finish garment measurements vs my pattern size.  But I love this dress - the print makes it fun, the full skirt and full gathered sleeves give it drama and it has pockets! 

In my search for the perfect gingham to remake my favorite dress, I bought a purple uneven plaid.  I retraced the bodice 2 sizes smaller to get a closer fit.  Well, that ended up with very unattractive folds going from the bust to the bottom of the raglan seam.  I finished that dress as a maxi and gave it to my daughter - who says it's too large (also maybe a little bit sister-wife-ish).  But I will keep trying to get a fit closer to what Lisa from Mabel the Mannequin has achieved.

So, I'm curious - what do you think about this sorta shapeless dress trend?  I like it, but I think it can be hard to pull off well.  Of course, it absolutely won't stop me from trying ;)

Carolyn Top

Many of my garments are because Carolyn made something and I liked it!  This one is no different.  Back in November 2016, she made Vogue 8935, adding a special Carolyn twist!  The very first time Carolyn came to visit us at the B&B, she brought that top and I tried it on and loved it - aren't sewing friends the best?

Carolyn in the version that inspired me

So, I traced her pattern and pulled fabric that very weekend after Christmas when she was here.  I even got the top and the 'undershirt' accents cut out.  Then it sat and got moved from spot to spot to be out of the way.  Until the March 2018 sew camp! Then I decided to sew it up.  The trickiest part of this entire top is the neckline and figuring out how to get the accent fabric in the right spot.

The only photo of my version

My top was made in denim with a bright floral for the undershirt accent.  While it was a fun make and I love the individual elements - can I just tell you, I don't love the shirt itself.  I cut the 'shirt hems' a bit longer than Carolyn did hers, because I'm all about odd numbers and I wanted enough space for 3 buttons to show at the bottom - like who's even going to notice that besides me?!  But the denim is too stiff and the top as a whole is a weird length.

I even made bias to bind the neckline seam

I have another beautiful combo of fabrics to make this again - a floral ponte and a beautiful striped shirting - so tell me, would you make it again?  And if not - what do I do with the fabric that was bought specifically with this top in mind?