Saved By A Friend

 Actually, this entire dress is thanks to a friend.  

I had a very pretty piece of green linen in my fabric closet.  I didn't remember where it came from when I originally pulled it.  Because, honestly, for years I was *afraid* of linen.  

I love my first linen hope so much, that I decided to make another.  I asked Carolyn which piece of fabric I should use and she suggested one that I wasn't quite ready to sew up.  So, I pulled this beautiful piece from the shelve.

But here's where everything went sideways.  I have this really bad habit of cutting out just the bodice and then setting it aside.  Then when I'm ready to start, I'll construct the bodice and figure out how long the skirt can be when I get there.

Well, once I got started on it, there wasn't enough fabric for a skirt of any length at all!  OH No! At this point, I sent some photos to Carolyn (which is a pretty regular part of any garment I'm making) and she commented, 'You're using my fabric!' Well, that answered the where the fabric came from.  Carolyn most likely gifted it to me to convince me to use linen.

I asked if she had more, and she did.  It was a piece where she had to purchase lots and had given away 3 yard pieces.  Way back in December, I took a day when I wasn't busy and I drove out to visit with her.  The visit was the reason for the day trip to New Jersey and the rest of the fabric was a bonus!

There are really no changes to this dress.  I had previously lowered the neckline and for this version I added inch wide elastic in the sleeve hems.

And that's about all there is to say about this Style Arc Hope Woven Dress.  The pattern is a gem.  If you haven't made it, you really should consider it!

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 ;)