Rayon Border Bettine Dress

 Speaking of gorgeous fabric, check out Stylemaker Fabrics. I love how the site is organized. The owner, Michelle offers beautiful quality, on trend fabric. 

This double border shibori style printed rayon challis is a rich indigo color. It is buttery soft and oh so lovely to work with. I had fun trying to decide where to place the border and horizontal line patterns. I decided I wanted three rows of the rectangles to border my skirt and cascade over my shoulders, leaving the dots placed in the perfect position right across my chest and sleeves. I used the dot pattern for the cuffs. 

Michelle was so gracious after I made a terrible mistake and cut into the bodice pattern piece when I was trying out different cuff designs. It had taken me so long to cut out my bodice and skirts to match and line up the way I wanted. I wanted to scream!! Wait, I did scream. But, I took a deep breath, and after frantically discovering that I did not have enough fabric to cut another bodice front, I quickly contacted Michelle at Stylemaker Fabrics. She sent me a new cut of fabric right away, reassuring me that she has made similar mistakes. Thank you, Michelle!

As for the pattern, it is the Bettine Dress by Tilly and the Buttons.  Such a quick and rewarding pattern.

McCalls 5525 Premier Prints Twill Storm Trench

I can't remember that this lovely twill had the name Freehand Twill Storm when I purchased it from Fabric.com back in December. But this trench sure created a storm in my classroom the first day I wore it! I had it on one day, ready for recess and waiting for my dear class to return from lunch. When they caught sight of me in my new coat, the students stormed around me, touching the fabric and gasping in awe. "Wow! You made that, Mrs. Pilver?" "You are artistic!" Oh, the joys of teaching.

I made this trench back in December over my Christmas week break. I was first inspired by the Selfish Seamstress Key Lime patterned trench and then took quite a bit of time searching for the patterned fabric I wanted to use for mine. I purchased this McCalls pattern on ebay after reading so many positive reviews about it. I know I am really behind with this as it was a sew-along back in 2010 but give me a break! I just got back into sewing last summer. This pattern is worth making a come back! It sews up beautifully and I loved working with the crisp cotton twill. After wearing it a few times and getting caught in the rain with it at least once, I notice it is losing its shape. The next one I make (I have been eying a twill from Organic Cotton Plus), I am going to do what the Selfish Seamstress did and interface the entire coat.

I used a turquoise polyester china silk for the lining and top stitching thread for the top stitching. The top stitching thread was a must. As you can see, I did not bother to match the fabric pattern at all!

I really have to figure out how to take better pictures. These iphone shots just aren't cutting it.

MariaDenmark Wrap Dress

 I tried my first Onion pattern and was not disappointed at all! I made an XS and love the fit and design. The pattern pieces printed on both sides of one sheet of paper. I enjoyed the process of tracing the pattern and then cutting out, adding my seam allowance. I chose an Italian rayon jersey from Mood Fabrics for this dress. Am I glad I did. Gorgeous! This fabric is buttery smooth and drapes like a dream. Perfect for wrap dresses. I didn't take the time to really match up my side seams but with this fabric, I don't think it made a difference.

After reading other reviews about the slight gape in the back neckline, I decided to cut the binding about an inch shorter so it would pull the neckline in around the back of my neck. It worked beautifully.

I was so confused at first about how the ties attached to the binding. But after reading other blogs, reading the directions over and over, trying to envision how this was going to go together, I figured it out and it was so simple! Next wrap dress I make, I will post the steps.

I didn't make any other adjustments other than I shortened it about an inch. That was quite by accident. I had forgotten to add the hem allowance to the back to I ended up cutting the fronts to match. I like the length though. It just hits my knees.

The only problem I ran into was that the ties ended up being way too long on me, so I had to wrap them twice around my waist before tying them. Otherwise they hang down to my knees. I will shorten them next time I make the dress.

 Sorry about the quality of the pictures. This is my first attempt at taking pictures of myself and I used a flash in a pretty dim room.

You can see my side seam here with no matching! I still think it works, what do you think.

Next time maybe a solid color and a little longer for a comfy dress to wear teaching.