The One With That Fabric #sewbackthen

Hey there folks,

I’m attempting to continue with my #sewbackthen series as there’s not much sewing in my life currently – hopefully that will change shortly – but wanted to stay on the blogging train.

For now,  my tale is of my first try of my third indie pattern company By Hand London. I’d had success with Tilly and the Buttons and Sew Over It so I had no worries about trying a new indie company.

As summer is coming to a close (although Asheville doesn’t seem to have got that memo yet), I thought I’d share my favourite summer dress make with you.

I’d been wanting to make a mega 90’s summer dress for a while now, they seemed to have been on the rise as I was seeing them around and I’d always loved the style and fit. One day a stunning daisy print one popped up on my Insta feed by the ever inspirational Emily over at Self Assembly Required .I reached out about the pattern and she told me it was View B of the Sabrina Dress. I knew that was the dress I’d been looking for (just don’t think about all those buttons, just don’t think about them!)

I’d been lucky enough to receive some beautiful Rife Paper Company Wonderland rayon for my birthday and knew it would be the perfect partnership.

I’d never used rayon before and I knew the fabric was more expensive than what I had been working with so I decided to make a muslin first – how very responsible right?

The fit wasn’t perfect for me right out of the packet (when ever is it?) but luckily the dress was made with princess seams which allowed me to easily change the fit around the bust.

Feeling confident I was ready to roll. Luckily we were back at the house in Florida for a month which meant I had plenty of space to lay the fabric out and take my time cutting out. Again, I’ve never used rayon before but had heard it can be slippy and tricky to cut. For some reason I really can’t get used to roller cutters, maybe I just don’t have any motor skills – ha – really need to learn though as it would’ve been easier to cut this with one.

I’ll admit I spent ages laying it all out perfectly but I didn’t attempt to pattern match. Once it was cut out the construction was pretty straight forward and went really quickly.

By Hand London also have a really great method for strap turning! You basically sewing yourself a string to the end of the strap to help you pull it through. I use it on all the straps I make now!

The only little issue I had was I hemmed it too short so had to redo it. Not the end of the world though. Oh, and lets not talk about sewing on all those bloody buttons!

The day I finished it I also had my hair done so it seemed the perfect opportunity to take some pictures. I’ve been growing my hair since this picture…now I want to cut it off… 

We were heading out to my parents ranch so we took advantage of the pretty surroundings, not to mention this amazing, very Alice inspired little play house.   Can you tell from my last picture how happy I am with this make?

I even got to take it to Chicago later that year where they had a weird heat wave, so here I am in my dress on the shores of Lake Michigan.

So, if you’re looking for a 90’s summer dress pattern I can’t recommend this one enough, The pattern is really well drafted and the instructions very clear. The princess seams make it a good one for simple altering if you have fit issues in the chest. About a week after I made this I found some amazing forest green rayon in a local fabric store to make another one. That has yet to happen but I’m hoping to squeeze it in soon. Oh, and Rifle Paper Company Rayon…you’ll never regret it…soooooo soft…okay, I’m off to put this dress on.

Happy sewing!

xxx

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