Summer Fling dress review by Sew This Pattern

Multi-tier dresses for summer! Yes! Gathers forever! Yes! Low cut back! ...hm. 

I saw a dress in a shop that inspired this dress with its modifications.  The dress in the shop was made with something like 6 metres of Liberty lawn, and cost a hot $700 (very heavy too!)  It had a low cut U back gathered into the bias binding - a thing I didn't even think was possible until I saw it.  

This is the Summer Fling top pattern, with dress expansion, by Sew This Pattern (a company I had never heard of before.)  When I discovered this pattern I thought it would be hackable into a nice version of what I'd seen - a bit less on the fabric use front, but also far more doable and not 10 kg!  I decided not to make a muslin of the original pattern, because I have an aversion to ties.  I cut size 8 based on my measurements, but I think the 6 might have been better. There's a huge amount of ease in this dress creating quite a lot of tenting, as well as a wide cut armscye, and the smaller size would have given a touch more coverage.  As it is I wear a normal bra and it's only visible a little bit on the side front.

To create the U back I basically lowered the curve on the back piece which is meant to go under the tie, and then just extended it into what I envisioned as the U shape, with the bias of the back and armscye  meeting almost at the same spot as in the original.  I was interested in lowering the triangle formed by the bias and the back bodice too but I wanted to keep the bias tape that goes over the shoulders at the same spot rather than changing too much at once.  I cut a little bit off that back triangle, but I ended up attaching the bias without changes - one of the reasons the dress may pull a bit more forward than it should.  I did a lot of pinning of bias and testing before I sewed it together.

I didn't have enough fabric for the bottom tier so this dress is pretty short! I did add pockets, using the Bardon dress pocket piece, which is huge - so this has massive pockets that are barely shorter than the whole dress.  

 The bias taping and gathered front were super straightforward, and this was a really fun and exciting make.  The final effect is absolutely wearable, and in fact I've been wearing it heaps.  The pockets are so big it's like a purse, it's short enough to wear on my bike, and it's possible I've ever worn it skateboarding...

 

The remaining issues are that the front pulls forward slightly.  The balance of the dress probably should be about 1 cm further back - something I knew I was mucking with, and that I wouldn't be able to judge with my first attempt.  The second part of that is that the bias edge of the neck creates a funny hump because it's designed to pull in around the back of the neck, not come out into a wide curved back.  In order to fix that I could give up on the perfection of my vision and do a X back version next.  The other alternative would be to use the bias piece from the front neck to continue as the straps, instead of the armscye piece.  I'm also going to take 1" from the side seam of the back and the back skirts, to see if that helps bring the dress further back and in to my body.  I will have enough fabric for the next version to have the full length skirt, which might also help with more weight to pull the dress into a better balance.  On the whole I'm really pleased with this make. 

Strata top, by Sew Liberated

I was not planning to talk about this...I posted about it on Instagram with a comparison of the Botany and the Strata top.  But then I made another one and it seems worth a bit of proper documentation.  I used size XS.

Here's the first one:

Linen.
I kind of liked it and I kind of didn't like it.  I wore it a lot and then gave it to a friend and then kind of missed it.  But really the main issue is the stupid wrinkling under the arm from the curve of the kimono sleeve.

However I had a Vision! It involved slippery rayon.  And so I cut the thing out before leaving Flagstaff to cement my Vision!

Some major ironing-rehabilitation plus a mere few hours:

(This rayon clearly will want after ironing-rehabilitation all the time, but it's not getting any more!)

The problem, of course, is that I desperately wanted this in February when I moved here.  It was hot.  I was hot.  I got a sunburn.  I'm not hot anymore.  But it's still cute.  I still like the Botany top more but I have not yet conflated the two patterns into a sleeveless but high low hem top - which is going to happen eventually.  This type of sleeve is not very useful in the winter because it can't be layered easily - you need a really wide top to go over it and I mostly have pretty fitted sweaters and cardigans.

Knit to woven: Grainline Hemlock and Penny tees

The inspiration for making some shapeless knit tees in woven fabric came about because I have a length of fantastic cream linen with flocked chartreuse spots on it.  You don't think that sounds amazing?  You just haven't seen it, or gotten to pet the spots.  So I was kind of at a loss for what to do.  Washing it made the spots start to shred.  So I wanted something that would suit the linen but wouldn't need a lot of washing.

Take 1 is the Grainline Penny Raglan tee. I'm not the first person to have made it from wovens.  My knit versions have mostly been gifted away except for the blue one with stars.  I think in a knit it should be done in something super drapey like rayon or bamboo, otherwise it's too shapeless.

However, the combination of silk charmeuse and knit sleeves worked fantastically!  This is the same size I made in the past - XS, totally not at all my measurements, but I knew my tolerance for oversized was limited.  This is very short though, which is more obvious in a woven than it was in the knit.  I would lengthen future versions.  I'm short waisted so you don't hear me say that very often...

The neckline gathered a bit at the front due to my binding and I actually like that effect quite a lot.  In order to preserve it, I didn't topstitch the neckline.  I also added sleeve bindings which I didn't topstitch, but will, because the stitching keeps flipping out.  This top has become a surprise success.  I love its breezy comfort and the ridiculous pattern is nicely broken up by the black sleeves.

Next I moved onto the Grainline Hemlock.  My first version of this was in relatively heavy organic cotton and was such a fail.  Yet again, only drapey, lightweight fabrics could save this pattern.  But first - lightweight silk, sleeveless.  This would benefit from an overlocker to finish the side seams - as usual I got caught by French seams that create an awkward V where you start hemming the sleeve.  I'm tempted to try this one with a little bit of sleeve on it.  Maybe not full length, but just a few inches worth.  Still, it's another surprise success in silk.  Because the sleeves go over my shoulders, this top looks crappy under a cardigan, it bunches up in weird ways.  But alone it looks just fine.

Also of note, I was planning to have the front pieces purposefully unmatched.  Go figure when I specifically try to not pattern match, that I end up with almost perfect matching...

The flocked spots might end up being raglan sleeves on a Penny top, but most of that fabric has been co-opted by an artist friend of mine who convinced me I should use it to make her a dress for an important gallery opening.  I reckon when an artist falls in love with a fabric, a smart person shouldn't stand in the way of that relationship. 

French Navy Orla Dress in Orla Kiely stems

I got sucked into the excitement of anorlaaffair, which was an Instagram sewing challenge, in July.  I mean, a simple woven dress!  Free pattern!  Yeah, it was easy to get sucked into.  It was just the middle of July when my sad departure from New Zealand didn't feel too impending and I was going wild with patterns and fabrics and random ideas.

So I cut this out in a size XS.
The size chart for the XS: 81-63-87
My actual measurements: 83-67-94
The size chart for the S: 85-67-91.

Can you note some foreshadowing?  I have been sewing a lot of knits...but I'm not sure that's any excuse.  I know I have wide shoulders after all so on a dress like this if anything I should size up.  Oops.

The fabric is another piece of Orla Kiely stems, from Saved Fabrics etsy shop.
I really adore this rainbow fabric and I was totally excited about this dress - enough to try a few things.  I french seamed the side seams, although I still held off from doing so on the sleeves.  I assume you can't french seam a gathered waist but I remain puzzled how to finish it in a nice way.

I moved the back zip to the left side so that I didn't mess up my stem pattern.
And I skipped gathering the sleeves and just made haphazard tucks as I came to the top of the sleeve.

Well I got to nearly done and popped the dress on and realised it was a solid 4" too small.  I mean I could not get this dress on.  No chance.  And so it wilted into a UFO on my floor until I realised it might fit my friend's daughter.  (His 8 year old daughter.)  But still it sat there because now I was galvanised by moving panic and too many projects in too little time. 

It ends up I sewed this literally in the last hour before I had to put my sewing machine into a box.  I do give things to op shops when I'm not satisfied with them, but having a project nearly done, and a potential - and potentially excited - wearer, I just couldn't box it up undone and leave it for 6 months.

So here's the failed Orla:

In the end it didn't fit the 8-year old, but another colleague at work had daughters who it does fit, and they love it!  The best bit is that this colleague is Irish so the Orla Kiely connection seems like a match made in heaven.

i am Cassiopee dress in Orla Kiely stems

I'm in love with this fabric and for once found a great showcase for it.

The fabric is some Orla Kiely remnants, from the etsy shop Saved Fabrics, and the idea that I'm also saving this great fabric from the landfill is a nice perk.

The company i am patterns is new to me - I discovered them right before I left Arizona, and bought a bunch of their patterns to try.  I made the Cupidon (here) and found it to be very simple and consisent with what I expected.  They have a fun aesthetic and I'm excited to try more of their stuff too, eventually.  I really appreciate that they have English translations.

I cut a size 36.

I have a large length of stems and quite a bit of the yellow hatched fabric, which is slightly denser and with an almost water-resistant feel although I believe it's still 100% cotton.  For that reason I used it for the skirt, and also to keep the pattern less busy.

This was no. 1 of my dress project: goal is to find 2 dress patterns that I really like and want to keep mixing/matching/working on to finally attain a good fit. As you can imagine this pattern isn't in the running for that.  It is cute in this fabric but it's too simple to be really interesting and it's not a shape I'd like any more of.  However, it was so very fast to make and it's pretty foolproof for a variety of body shapes; as the pattern remarks you could also use any fabric - something thick and furry for winter might be nice, although I'd probably narrow the skirt so the gathers don't become overwhelming in a heavy fabric.

It's hard to have more to say.  I used french seams on the body, but didn't on the sleeves and I top stitched them down, and because of the gathers I didn't attempt french seams on the waist.  It was a super easy, fast sew and I know it's shapeless, but I think that the cool fabric makes up for that. Plus it's really nice for layering!

However I didn't shorten the skirt.  So if you are average height or above and you don't want a tunic dress, you might take that into consideration. I'm 5'4"!

Megan Nielsen Reef shorts

I bought the Reef pattern to make the top, but I had some of this fabric left over after making my Grainline Willow so I cut out the shorts (yes in August) on a whim.  However, I didn't have enough for the inside of the shorts hem pieces.  These two relatively small pieces literally held the process up for months, because the main fabric is a spongey, very drapey rayon woven, and I wanted something with the same fluidity.  Everything in my stash was sort of earmarked, and I wasn't sure I had enough yardage, so I waited.

I cut a size XS, and I didn't cut the pockets because I thought they would mess up the lie of the shorts, and anyway I don't need pockets in lounge shorts.

Finally after a possibly bad idea shopping spree online at Mood, I had fabric.  Enter the pale blue Rag & Bone stretch silk.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of it - I'm thinking of making a two-layer Briar...

Easy to put together.  I used french seams on the sides and zig zags on the centers.  I did sew in the ditch for the waistband, very painstakingly, but I admit I'm finally flipping sides on this issue.  Sewing in the ditch invariably misses something.  I like it in theory - I mean, I like the action of sewing in the ditch, but the results are not very nice.  You can see the line of stitching, missed fabric on the inside, and it looks messy.  So I sewed the silk hems up by hand.

I can't say these are the classiest, or that they are the most flattering, but I quite like my haphazard pattern matching, I love the luxury of a bit of silk in there, and they are super comfortable.  Of course, they aren't exactly season-appropriate...and it looks like I'm planning an endless winter this year, so it may be awhile before they become season-appropriate...but they were amazing on my recent trip to Thailand!

Ironically I think I will get a lot more use out of this shorts pattern than I will out of the Reef top.  I'm still kind of puzzling how to improve that top for a wide back, and how to avoid the facings, but for now it seems like too much work to tackle.