Fringe Dress // Sewing for my Sister

Hello! It's safe to say that the Fringe dress from Chalk and Notch is one of my favorite patterns. I have made it three times now. The first time was the top version in view A, the second was my Christmas maxi velvet dress (unblogged) and this is the third time.

I made view B for this Fringe dress. My sister is 15 years old and she fit almost perfectly into the size 4. Her waist measurement was an inch different, so I reduced the width of the darts following the directions in the pattern. I also added the waist ties to the back darts. It is a perfect fit!

Another change I made to the pattern was to lengthen the skirt by four inches. My sister is tall and I wanted the skirt to hit a little below knee length. I sewed the bodice with French seams and finished the other seams with my sewing machine.

The waist ties help to add some shaping to the waist. 

It was a super windy day while we were taking these pictures, but you can see the shape of the hem in this one. It is slightly curved on the sides.

Previously, I have made the button front version of the Fringe dress, but I love this notched version too! It makes for an easy pullover dress! I made sure to use lots of pins while sewing the facing, and it came out nearly perfect! 

My sister's favorite part of this dress are the pockets! Every girl needs pockets in her dresses/skirts!

The fabric is a very drapey rayon challis from Joann Fabrics. We bought it at least five years ago when it was on sale. It's been prewashed and sitting in the stash ever since. My mom originally bought it intending to use it for my sister, but it just took a few years! 

The fabric is pretty, but it was a pain to work with! Parts of it were off grain and it was almost impossible to make it lay straight when cutting. I think the print helps to hide the fabric issues though and it looks cute on my sister!

This dress will be my sister's Easter dress this year! It will also be the perfect dress for summer too.

~Elizabeth

The Fringe Blouse

Recently, I made a deal with myself to not buy any new patterns or fabric. Then the Fringe Blouse and Dress pattern from Chalk and Notch came along and I forgot all about that little deal. I was seeing the Fringe dress everywhere and knew I had to have it, pattern fasting deal or not! I didn't wait long to buy it because it is exactly my style with a button front and elbow sleeves with button tabs.

The Fringe comes with two views - the button front view or a notched front neckline view. Either view can be made as a blouse or a dress. Both views have a gathered skirt with a curved hem and two different sleeve options. The dress version even has optional pockets! It's a pull on style, but there are front and back bodice darts to help with shaping and you can add optional waist ties.

The Fringe is best suited for fabrics that drape well including rayon challis, cotton voile, and cotton lawn. I really wanted to make the dress version, but did not have enough fabric in my stash, so for now I settled with the blouse version in a drapey rayon challis.

My measurements put me in a size 6 bust and a size 10 waist. After looking at the finished measurements and asking for help in the Chalk and Notch Facebook group, I decided to go with the size 8. I needed the ease so it would fit over my shoulders, but I didn't want it to be too tight or too loose. I did make a quick muslin (not my favorite thing to do, but necessary!) and I found the size 8 to be perfect!

The Fringe was my first Chalk and Notch pattern and I was really impressed. The pattern instructions are very professional and easy to follow. I love the layers function for printing out PDF patterns. I will say that if the pattern says to pin well to keep the facing in place while topstitching then you should do as the pattern says. I try to avoid pinning whenever possible, but in this case I had to unpick some stitching around the curve of the neckline. If I had pinned in the first place (and followed the instructions!) I could have saved myself from spending time with the seam ripper.

I also wanted to be lazy and not sew the buttonholes, since others have said it's possible to get the dress on and off without buttonholes. I was a good sewist however, and made the buttonholes. My machine was nice to me this time and made three perfect buttonholes on the front bodice! We usually get into arguments when it comes to buttonholes.

I decided to sew my entire Fringe Blouse with French seams. I love doing French seams because it makes the inside look so nice and professional. It takes a little more time, but it's so worth it in the end.

I really love how my Fringe Blouse turned out and I can't wait to make a dress version! I'm thinking a solid dress would be really nice. It is getting to be the end of summer, but it's still summer weather here! I think the dress would also work well with layers once the weather does start to get cooler.

What have you been sewing recently? What fabric should I make my Fringe dress version with?

~Elizabeth

A Marigold in Rayon Challis

I know that it is August and school will be starting soon. However, I still wanted to share my Easter dress! Yes, it is the middle of summer and yes, Easter was in April. I am behind in sharing this dress, but I have worn it many times since Easter! The fabric makes this a dream to wear - it is so soft and flowy!

I splurged on this fabric for myself. It is Art Gallery rayon and I loved all the colors in it. I knew it would make a great dress. It took me longer to decide on a pattern than it did to sew the dress. I finally decided on the Marigold dress because I had been wanting to make another one and I knew that it fit me well. It is a classic design and I can wear the dress often.

Since I have made this dress before, I knew how it fit. The only change I made was to lengthen the bodice by 1 inch. By doing this, it hits me where it is designed to fall and it is much more comfortable.

This rayon challis is very lightweight which makes for an excellent drape. I decided to line it in a white batiste which was perfect. It was just enough to give the bodice a little more structure and also allows me to wear it without a slip.

Our county fair is next week and I am planning on entering this dress. I can see myself wearing this into the fall season with a few added layers.

My summer has been busy and full of sewing for both myself and my family! I hope to be back soon to share some more projects.

~Elizabeth

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to my blog readers! I have missed this little spot and decided it was time to come back. I hope you all had a very nice and blessed Easter. We had a nice Easter - just our family but it was relaxing. The weather was not the warmest but the snow held off and we were able to have an egg hunt outside.

I did not get around to making new Easter dresses for all the girls - I did make my littlest sister's dress. I wore my graduation dress from last year and Miss K wore a new RTW skirt.

For Miss V's dress, I went with the TNT Sally Dress pattern. I have made this pattern quite a few times for her and I love the style. It is simple and fairly quick to sew and a great dress for a little girl. I made V's Easter dress last year from the same pattern.

Compared to last year, Miss V is much bigger and so I made a size 3T. I wanted the dress to fit her for awhile, so I measured the length from her waist - this was a mistake however because the bodice seam starts near the chest not the waist! This just goes to show anyone can make a mistake even on a pattern you've made several times.

The dress would've come to above her knees had I left the length. I was able to fix it by cutting a band to add to the bottom and I covered up the seam with rickrack. It looks great and the white rickrack really adds some nice detail to the skirt!

The fabric is some rayon challis from my stash and it's not pink, but Miss V agreed to it right away! I think it looks lovely on her. It was not lovely to cut and sew though. The fabric slipped while cutting making it difficult to cut a straight line. Once I sewed the bodice together the sewing went much smoother. 

Although she may not look happy in these pictures, she really likes her dress! She was tired, but I am glad she enjoys wearing things I make for her - she can be a very picky 3 year old sometimes. 

~Elizabeth

Felicity Dress

Today, I have my newest sewing project to show you! This is the Felicity Dress by Jennifer Lauren Vintage and I made it to wear to my nursing pinning ceremony and graduation. It is a new pattern released in February and as soon as I saw it on Jennifer's blog, I knew it was what I wanted to make for graduation.

Street Fair Skirt - Three Ways

The Street Fair Skirt pattern is from marie-madeline studio and it is a very versatile and practical pattern! I received the pattern quite a few years ago as a gift and finally made it (three times!) this summer. It is an A-line shape with a yoke and invisible zipper. It can be made in two different lengths with optional pockets, optional piping trim and an optional bottom band.