Sunflowers

While trying to figure out the best project for this cheerful sunflower printed quilting cotton, I was reminded how much I love my cotton Anna Dress.  It is one of my favorite, easy to wear garments for warm weather days, and it's beginning to show it's age.

So it seemed like as good a time as any to make myself another.  This print, that was originally slated for a 1990s inspired spaghetti strap dress in my mind, became an obvious choice for another Summer dress.

I stabilized the neckline with some seam binding to keep the v-neck from stretching before beginning the construction of the dress.

Since I have multiple versions of this dress and I am familiar with the process, the pattern went together easily.

I did add some length to the sleeves which I have done before.

And while I did have a limited amount of yardage, I was able to get a pretty good match at center back for the bodice (the skirt was a different story).

One thing to note is that this pattern is drafted extremely long.  Well, the bodice is drafted for a short-waisted person, and the skirt for someone over 6 feet tall!  I shortened the skirt considerably due to yardage restrictions, but I still ended up with a decent amount of length.

I like to reinforce cut-in-one sleeves with top-stitching and a strip of seam binding on the inside.  With a busy print, the top-stitching is barely visible.  And this technique stabilizes an area that has to be clipped and trimmed quite a bit to release the inner curve of the sleeve.

Raw edges were also finished with rayon seam binding.

I have a complicated relationship with invisible zippers, but I decided to go ahead and use one since the pattern calls for it, I had a good color match, and I have used them for this pattern on previous versions.  Seeing as my cotton wasn't too thick, and there was only one horizontal seam to contend with, I went ahead with the invisible zip.  And it all worked out in the end.

The sleeve and skirt hems were hand stitched into place.  I do love my hand stitching!

And that's about it for this dress.

This is my fifth version of the Anna Dress, and I believe this version will be a welcome addition to the collection. 

The sunflower print makes this the perfect easy to wear sundress and the colorway even allows it to be a Fall appropriate choice!

An Old Friend

I feel like I am returning to my roots.  I started sewing clothing in high school and was very into the empire/high waisted silhouette at the time, in large part due to my obsession with Jane Austen and the plethora of costume dramas that came out in the mid to late 1990s.  

In the last few years I have been expanding the silhouette options in my closet, and when I rediscovered a version of McCalls 9340 that I made about 25 years ago, I thought it would be fun to make another now that my sewing skills have improved significantly.

As far as the changes go, I am happy with the added "ruffle" at the neck and sleeve.  That went as planned.

And I do love the added texture that the pleated addition gives to the hemline.

There was an issue with the neckline being too large using the suggested length of elastic, but that was an easy fix.

And as far as looking like a nightgown, the print does perhaps lend itself to that type of garment, as does the silhouette.  But really, considering that many people go out in pajama bottoms and tanks or leggings as a daily uniform, I will give myself some grace and say that this qualifies as elevated sleepwear if anyone mistakes it for an actual nightgown.

I am not completely sold on the high waistline, but I will admit that the dress is very comfortable to wear on a hot day.  I don't care what people say, but higher quality quilting cotton works as a fantastic textile for clothing.

At this point, I am going to dig around in my older patterns and see if there are any others that are worth making again.

It might be fun to make small adjustments or add details like I did with this project.  Then again, I have a stack of about four new(ish) patterns that I would really love to get to before the weather changes.  But seeing as it's already the end of August, I don't see that happening . . .

Dress:  Made by me, McCalls 9340
Shoes:  Soludos Wedge Lace-Up

Apple Blossoms

I pulled an old dress out from the back of the closet about a month ago that was made using McCalls 9340.  I think it's one of the earliest dress patterns that included a zipper that I made, so the construction of the dress is not quite up to my current standards.  But it is still a completely wearable dress.

After deciding that I actually liked wearing the dress, even if it is a bit different than my standard silhouette, I wanted to try making another version of the pattern with a couple of small tweaks.  And yes, I still have the pattern . . . which is only going to make it harder to get rid of all of the other old patterns I haven't touched in years . . . because I might find a use for them in the future.

The major change was that I wanted more of a ruffled effect to the neckline rather than just an elastic casing to finish the edge.

While the curve at the side of the front bodice gave me a tiny bit of grief, adding additional length to the upper edges of the bodice and sleeve pieces did the trick.

Because the elastic casing is set back from the edge of the folded neckline, it gives a lovely ruffled look after the elastic is placed.

In the end, I did remove a bit of length from the neckline elastic guide included with the pattern.  I cannot recall if I did the same to the original dress because it's been so long.

But it was pretty clear as soon as I pulled the elastic through the casing that the fabric wasn't gathered enough.  And sure enough, once I tried the dress on, the back bodice was pulling away from the body because the circumference was just too big for me (especially when worn on the shoulders).

I hand-picked the zipper into place after basting it into place.

A lapped application is my go-to, however, because of the ruffled neckline, I thought a standard, centered application would work best in this case.

And here is what that detail looks like.  There are definitely hints of nightgown (mostly to do with my chosen print, I think), but it's still a very cute, easy to wear dress.

But I wasn't quite finished.  There wasn't a whole lot of yardage left, but I did have enough to add some kind of trim to the lower edge of the skirt. 

And since this silhouette has definite Regency vibes, I thought it would look quite authentic.

First I cut a bunch of strips of my fabric and finished both edges with a narrow hem.

I played around with some fabric scraps and pinned it to the dress to see if I was headed in the right direction before coming up with a pleated trim.

And once I had decided on knife pleats, I went ahead and got to pressing my pleats into place.

It adds a nice texture to the basic design of the dress.

To finish it all off, I found a spool of velvet ribbon that was a match to the print and would cover the line of stitching that attaches the pleated trim to the dress.

Because I had plenty of the ribbon on hand, I contemplated adding two extra rows of the ribbon, but in the end, decided that it looked too busy.

It was a fun experiment to rediscover an old pattern.

This is definitely an easy to wear option for the warmer months.  So overall, a success.  And yet another reason to hang onto all of my old patterns!

A Basque Waist

I will confess, I have a lot of fabric living in my sewing room and, if I'm being honest, some has migrated beyond the confines of the sewing room.  And much of it has been with me for quite a few years.  I feel like I have a pretty good working knowledge of what particular fabric should be paired with a pattern (even if it may not be the most "correct" sort of textile for dressmaking - I'm looking at you quilting cotton and upholstery fabrics).

This means that while I may not have the exact project in mind for a particular textile, if the print is tempting, or if it seems like it has possibilities, I will hold onto it until the right project appears.  And rediscovering a fabric that is perfectly suited to a great pattern is so much fun.

But for whatever reason, the fabrics that I picked up from the JoAnn closing sale not too long ago keep finding their way into my hands when I go to start another sewing project.

Case in point, this vibrant printed quilting cotton.

I did have to make a few changes to the given pattern to fit everything onto the yardage that I was working with, but as soon as I rediscovered this 1980s pattern I knew that this print was a perfect match.

And I'm not mad about using my most recent fabric purchases.  It means that they will not end up stashed away for years, waiting for their turn on the sewing table.

Then again, I know that there are some great bits of fabric just waiting for the right project.

So it would probably be wise to do a deep dive into those forgotten fabrics and reorganize everything to see if inspiration strikes.

Then again, it's so much more fun to just dive right into the next sewing project!

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 7083
Shoes:  Nine West