Style Maker Fabrics Fall Syle Tour 2017

I am SO excited to be participating in the Style Maker Fabrics blog tour! You guys seriously need to go take a look at all of the new fabrics they just got in for fall. I am still completely in awe at the floral rayon that I chose to make my dress. It is seriously the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen — and I have never been more scared to cut into fabric. Haha

The first thing I made was the Lou Box Top by Sew DIY (because I’m a chicken, and was so nervous to make the dress) out of this suede modal shirting. It definitely has a suede like texture and it is extremely soft. It was pretty easy to work with, but since I haven’t worked with woven fabric as much, I messed up the neckline a little bit. I’m pretty sure I did everything correctly, but I trimmed the seam allowance too small before adding the notches to help the neckline curve easier. I’ve heard that this tutorial by Grainline Studio for flat bias binding is really good, so I will be following it next go around.

I had 1 1 /4 yards of this fabric and decided to make the curved hem version of the Lou. I added two inches of length at the lengthen line, but once I cut the front piece for the M-L size, I couldn’t seem to get the back pieces to fit on the fabric. I ended up cutting everything to the XS-S size, since my measurements are at the very high end of the XS-S size, but at the very low end for the M-L. I think since I lengthened the pattern I should have gotten 1 1/2 yards instead.

I still really like how it turned out, and it’s a really comfortable top. The bunching by my underarm is probably from it being a little bit on the small side, but it doesn’t bother me when I’m wearing it. I have been wanting to incorporate more gold into my wardrobe, so I used the gold button from Joann’s, and the gold choker is from Target.

NEXT TIME: I’m definitely going to make sure I order more fabric, and I might grade between the sizes because the M-L seemed like it was going to be way too big. I also really want to try inserting a short (like 5 inch) exposed zipper (instead of the button) in the back because I think that would be really cute!

Next up is this amazing dress in floral rayon. This was my inspiration and I’m so happy with how mine turned out! I used McCall’s pattern 7534 , view D. I haven’t made a “big four” pattern in a while, and to be honest, I have been totally spoiled by indie patterns! Making this dress really wasn’t that bad, but I did make two muslins of the front and back pieces because I had NO idea what the instructions were trying to telling me to do.

I did the first muslin completely wrong, but after thinking about it for a day, I FINALLY understood what it wanted me to do. I sort of got it the second time — and then the third time I did it with this fabric. Even though I was nervous that it would turn out a little wonky, it actually turned out really good! It was pretty smooth sailing after that.

I say ‘pretty smooth’ because my pattern pieces for the bodice weren’t fitting together and the facing ended up not being long enough. I tried the paper pattern pieces up next to each other and they fit perfectly. So I’m thinking that the fabric may have shifted a little bit during cutting, and I might have ironed some of the wrinkles out after I had cut the pieces. After some thinking and not so professional fixes, I got it back to fitting together well enough — but lesson learned!

Can we just take a minute to appreciate this neckline and how I don’t even think I’m going to add a snap to it because it hardly gapes at all?? Also, if you want some jaws to drop while you walk by, head over and get yourself some of this fabric right now, before I buy every last yard.

The pattern also didn’t say to baste and ease the sleeves in, but when they didn’t fit very well I knew that’s what needed to happen. Overall, this pattern was fine, but I don’t recommend it for beginners. I will use it in the future because I still really like the design and fit.

If any fabric has made me sweat while cutting it — it’s this fabric.  The only adjustments I made to this pattern were to omit the waist ties, lengthen at the waist by 1 1 /2 inches, and shorten the skirt to be midi length.

NEXT TIME: I will add pockets because there’s plenty of room for them and because…POCKETS. I also expected the skirt to be more flowy, so I think next time I’ll angle it out a little more than the pattern has it.

What are your fall sewing plans? Which fabric to you have your eye on at Style Maker Fabrics?

Be sure to check out the other ladies in the blog tour! Lori from Girls in the Garden is up next tomorrow!

9/25 – 9/26 – 9/27 – 9/28 – 9/29 – 9/30 – 10/1 – 10/2 – 10/3 – 10/4 – 10/5 – 10/6 – 10/7

The fabric was provided to me free of charge for this post.