Bella Sunshine Designs Emmaline Dress

Bella Sunshine Designs is having a Back to School Sale. Each week two different patterns are on sale. This week the Emmaline and Clementine are on sale for $7 each. I've been on a maxi dress kick and decided to make the Emmaline for fall.

The pink fabric I used is a Cupro from Sly Fox Fabrics. The print is a rayon spandex from Super Textiles, and the brown is a rayon spandex and I probably got it at the fabric district in Dallas as well.

This was my first time using Cupro and I loved it! It is so soft, has great drape, and just 2 way stretch. I hope that Sly Fox Fabrics decides to stock more colors.

 I am not going to lie to you. The Emmaline dress takes a boat load of fabric! I used 2 yards for the bodice, sleeves, and top section of the skirt. Printed section took an entire yard, and the bottom section takes 2 yards! 

The pattern does have a sleeveless option, and multiple skirt options. There is a knee length skirt with the color blocking, and you can also make it with a plain solid skirt. But this color blocking is so fun!

 What's really fun - is twirling around in a dress this full. I took so many photos twirling, but look like a bit silly in most as I'm making the weirdest faces while I twirl.

Before I cut into the lovely Cupro Sly Fox Fabrics sent me to promote, I did a trial run in some other fabric. I am so glad that I did! I screwed up and took too much length out of the pattern and made my skirt midi length. Yikes!

This is not the length I was going for, but you better believe I'll still wear it. 

 I used a mustard cotton lycra from Made Whimsy, the print is one of my designs from Spoonflower on Modern Jersey, and the brown is a poly jersey from the Dallas fabric district.

I plan to wear this dress with some knee high boots this fall. I put my boots away for the summer or I would have worn them for photos. 

 And here is one more photo of me twirling.

The Emmaline is on sale through August 29th.


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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mas Tres Belle Dress

I recently shared my Ellie & Mac South Shore Romper. I love it and now I've tried the dress version - the Tres Belle Wrap Tunic & Dress. The Tres Belle has three skirt options. The bodice is slightly different in length than the bodice for the South Shore Romper.

For some reason the Tres Belle Bodice seems to give a lower v at the crossover than what I had with the South Shore Romper. I will likely wear a cami under this Tres Belle Dress.

I used a gorgeous Knub Jersey from Sly Fox Fabrics. It is a poly linen blend - 85% polyester, 15% linen. It is a lightweight and ended up being too light for this dress. I am wearing a black skirt under this dress and a nude colored bra. I took photos initially with a hot pink bra and it was clearly visible through the knit.

This fabric is fairly soft. I've purchased linen blend knits before that were scratchy and took several washes to get them to soften up. This starts out soft and I anticipate it will get even softer as I was it.

I used the gathered maxi skirt for my Tres Belle Dress. I also added pockets - because pockets make everything better.

Since this Knub Jersey ended up being a little too light for this dress, I am debating something. Do I make myself a slip to wear under it or do I cut it to be a tunic length and wear it with leggings?

The Knub Jersey I used is the Charcoal color. It is also available in a gorgeous Deep Red. Even though it is too light for a dress, it is perfect for tops.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

George + Ginger Runway Dress

The George + Ginger Runway Dress has been on my to-do list forever! It's the pattern of the month for August - so no better time than now.

Since this was my first time making the Runway Dress, I decided to do the peplum top version.

I used a rayon spandex knit and love the feel of the Runway Dress on.  I did have some issues with my elastic gathering on the sleeve and hope to perfect that on my next one.

Since I am so short (5' tall) I did remove some length from the bodice and the waistband. I took out 1" from the bodice and 1.5" from the waistband. Before I attempt the dress, I think I might take a little more length out of the waistband pointed section.

The Runway Dress is on sale for the entire month of August. I'll try to get a dress version sewn up before the end of the month.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Greenstyle Creations Clara Wrap Top

I have a confession to make. I was a pretester for the Greenstyle Creations Clara Wrap Top. I made my test garment gave feedback and declared - I will never wear this! I then sent the test garment to my cousin who still actively does ballet. She even sent me a selfie of her wearing it to class. It made me so happy to see her enjoying the top.

When the "real" test came along for the Clara Wrap Top, I didn't participate. I don't recall if it was because I was busy or if it was because I had sworn off wearing it and didn't want to waste my time or fabric. Either way - I had this idea in my head that I wanted to make a wrap dress, but I hate wrap skirts. So I thought I need a faux wrap top with a skirt attached. I looked through so many patterns and couldn't find anything that matched the idea in my head. Then I remembered my friend  Sharon's blog post awhile back about making a faux romper and she used the Clara Wrap Top for it.

I received the final pattern for the Clara since I was a pretester and I quickly printed it up and got to work making it. 

Instead of attaching a skirt to the wrap top, I decided to make a sleeveless dress to wear under my Clara Wrap Top. The sleeves on the Clara are quite fitted and I knew I would be uncomfortable trying to wear something with sleeves under it.

I made the Ellie & Mac Sunny Day Dress to wear under my Clara. I wanted a really full skirt and decided to use the full width of fabric for the front and the back. I often make my Sunny Day just using one full width of fabric for the entire skirt. So this one is twice as full as I typically make.

All the fabrics I used came from Zenith & Quasar. The Sunny Day Dress is made from Tactel. Tactel is am amazing lightweight athletic knit. I find that is travels well as wrinkles tend to release after hanging the garment awhile, it packs up super small, it's very breathable, and it dries super quick.

My wrap top is made with athletic brushed poly. This print should be available soon. It's called colorful concrete and it has such a cool looking texture and a mix of beautiful colors. I also love athletic brushed poly for all kinds of clothes. It also packs well and I think I will take this ensemble with me on my next cruise. Here's a closer look at the print.

And it has pockets!

There was one thing that I didn't like about the Clara - that the ties were not lined. I really didn't like how the hemmed edges were visible. And I really didn't think that would look good when using a printed fabric with a white backside. So, I decided to make my ties lined. I unfortunately did not have enough of this print to use it for both side. Okay - I probably did, but did not take the time to lay everything out before I started cutting. I ended up using the Tactel for the lining and I really love how it came out. This was a pretty easy hack and I will probably make another for a separate blog post to show step by step how to do it.

Here is a look at my Sunny Day Dress I am wearing under the Clara. Ignore all the rippling at the waist seam. I think the shear volume of the skirt is the culprit. I even tried using my sewing machine to sew it together and still ended up with some rippling.

I even topstitched the seam thinking that might help, but I think it made it worse. I'm contemplating cutting the skirt off and  re-attaching it. I definitely do not feel like seam ripping it off. I'm also thinking of leaving it alone. I'm not sure I'll ever wear the dress without the wrap, but I also think I could just make a wide wrap belt with the tactel to wear with the dress when I decide to wear it on it's on.

Something about this dress just made me want to twirl and twirl. Scroll to see what what I mean.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mac Sunny Day Dress

I love the Ellie & Mac Sunny Day Dress. It goes together quickly and looks great on. It's the perfect summer dress. As I was getting ready to pack up and move, I often got distracted in my sewing room. I went through a bit of a sewing frenzy thinking I needed to sew up a bunch of fabric so I wouldn't have to move it. With my stash - that was a  joke. I mean- I'd still have to move my clothes - so what was the point. I think the point was I would rather sew than pack.

So as I went through my fabric, I did decide that I could stand to part with some. Other fabrics were kind of special to me or I had them reserved for something in particular. This fabric fell into that category. I got this fabric from my sweet friend Sneha. She used to live in the DFW area, but now lives far away in Canada. Ever since she gave me this fabric, I knew I needed to make something for summer with it.

Since I know I can whip up a Sunny Day dress in about 30 minutes, I went for it! I even attempted to pattern match and did pretty darn good. I immediately wore it and took photos there on the front yard of my now "old" house. Packing and moving kept me so busy, that I didn't have time to blog until recently.

I've worn this dress many times since I made it and it always makes me think of my sweet friend. I'll be visiting Canada on a cruise later this year. I'm hoping I can convince Sneha to visit me at one of my ports of call.

Ready to make a Sunny Day Dress or any Summer Dress? Ellie & Mac is having a Summer Dress Event! All dress patterns are on sale for an additional 20% off with the code SUMMERDRESS. Make any Ellie & Mac dress and upload a photo to their Summer Dress Event Album HERE to be entered to win a prize!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

George + Ginger SoTa Tunic & Dress

It's no secret that I LOVE the George + Ginger SoTa Tunic & Dress. I've made several and wear them frequently. I've found that I prefer my godets made with a holey fabric. I don't care for a traditional lace, but a more solid knit with some holes that might make a pattern that is lace like, but not as holey as lace. Got it?

The SoTa is intended to be made with lightweight knits. You can use cotton lycra, but the effect of the godets will be completely different.

The SoTa has amazing twirl factor. I've never made the dress version. That would probably not go over well using the holey fabric that I love.  I really love the tunic length. You can see in this photo that my holey fabric is like a knit eyelet.

I loved how it looked with my Zenith & Quasar Nebulous print athletic brushed poly.

Isn't this print gorgeous? I just love these colors.

The longest part of making a SoTa is cutting all  the pieces out. Sewing a SoTa is actually very quick. I like to make my SoTas in multiples. I feel more efficient sewing them when I can whip through them quickly. I tend to cut my godets out first then the body and sleeves. So of course I had to make this time. If I hadn't been trying to get a few other things done - like unpacking - I probably would have made another.

This one is made with a plush brushed poly from Zenith & Quasar in a blue floral. I happened to have this lace like knit in a seafoam green that matched perfectly. I got this lace like knit from the fabric district and have bought it in a couple of colors. My very first SoTa was made with some in a blue color.

I made both of my SoTas with short sleeves and hemmed both with a rolled hem. On this one I also rolled hem my sleeves because I was almost out of the thread I was using on hem. But I think I'm going to cut it off and hem the sleeves normally.

The one downside to using a holey knit on the godets is hemming. I've decided a like a rolled hem best. But one trick I have learned is to do a narrow serger hem first and then do the rolled hem and go over it twice. I find that gives the cleanest rolled hem on holey knits.

The SoTa is the pattern of the month at George + Ginger. Grab it on sale for only $6.75 through the end of the month!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Zenith & Quasar Knit Seersucker!

Seersucker has to be the quintessential fabric of summer. I was so excited when Lilly stocked a KNIT seersucker at Zenith & Quasar. Yes - knit! It has the look and texture of a seersucker woven, but has the ease of wear that you get with a knit. It's also an athletic knit. I plan to see if I can sneak a swimsuit out of my scraps - or I may just give in and buy more.

Here's an up close shot so you can see the texture of this turquoise seersucker knit.

I had to make one of my favorite dresses with it - the Ellie & Mac Be Dreamy Dress. This dress just has a summer vibe to it and I can't stop making them.

I do make my Be Dreamy Dress a bit different than the pattern. I know I have quite the behind, so I add some width to the top of the back skirt and gather it slightly. I really don't need it, but I feel better knowing my booty has a little extra wiggle room.

I feel so fancy wearing a maxi dress. I love having my legs covered.

The flutter sleeves are so cute and easy. They are just a circle with a circle right in the middle. On this dress, I decided to offset the armhole so that I had more fabric draping over the top of my arm and less under it. Part of the reason I did this was because I ran out of fabric! I barely had two 15" squares to ge my sleeves out of. So I improvised and LOVE the result. I think all future Be Dreamy Dresses I make will have offset armholes.

My neckline ended up a bit high due to the high recovery in the stretch of this knit. If I thought I had enough fabric left, I would lower the neckline and attach a new neckband.

This gorgeous turquoise seersucker knit is available at Zenith & Quasar for $18/yard. It is 50" wide  and the stripes run horizontally. I cut my dress cross grain because I wanted vertical stripes. The fabric is 55% polyester, 40% nylon, and 5% spandex with 4-way 50% stretch. This fabric is great for so many things. It screamed DRESS to me, but I think it would be so cute as a swimsuit, a crop top with white shorts, or as culottes with a white tank.




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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.