The 7 Day Challenge... Season Two!
7 dresses in 7 days made by me for me!
Hi, all you wonderful sewsters. As promised, I created a collection of 7 everyday dresses to share with you over 7 days. Not couture. Not too perfect. For fun, for fashion and functionality. A selection of 7 available patterns to be enjoyed the whole year round 😃
Day 1. Dress 1 💕
I am starting with dress 1. Burda pattern no. 6829. Remember this fabric? I asked all you fabulous people on the That’s Sew Terry Fox facebook group page to choose a fabric for me for a different design. You all loved this fabric the best. But I thought the original design a little contemporary. So I switched patterns.
I love this little dress. Comfortable to wear, easy to make. Made for stretch fabrics. No zip!
The only thing I did differently than the pattern was to add bias binding to finish the hems. I tested the fabric and simply turning back, and top or edge stitching just didn’t work. It rippled every time. Binding worked a treat!
The fabric came from one of My favourite little fabric shops in Weymouth called Sew n’ Sews. Always worth the trip.
I hope you like this combination. Will be back tomorrow with dress 2. I thought by Making up 7 pieces of my stash, I would make some room. I didn’t take into consideration last week Coalville fabrics Sunday sale. Will tell all tomorrow 💕😊
#burdapatterns #sewn’sewsweymouth #coalvillefabrics #stretchfabric #sewingfashion #terryfoxspiritofcouture #sewover50
DAY 2, Dress 2! 💕
Today’s dress was an absolute ‘must have’ for this season. I could happily make a dozen of these dresses in all different colours.💕
The pattern is Butterick B6554. You can easily dress it up or down. High shoes or flats.. 😍
Now, this fabric was an instant decision for me, and that doesn’t happen very often. It’s like a heavy crepe. It has a gorgeous weight to it. Which enables all that swooshing around with those flounces in the hemline.
The pattern is easy to make. No zip. Just the ties to fasten. So a simple wrap around.
The fabric is from Coalville Fabrics. If you don’t know of them, they really should be on your weekly hit list. Especially for those of you who are reliant on buying fabric online. Join their facebook group by pressing on the hashtag below, and you will see materials being posted up on the site during the week. Then every other Sunday evening, there is an online video sale. Oh my gosh, it’s so much fun! 💕
The flounced hem is machined. Now I have a big thing about machining hems. I always think it’s essential to get the hem width right for the weight of the fabric. In essence, this fabric is summer weight. Suitable for floaty dresses. That means an edge-stitched hem to me. Sorry if you don’t agree, we all have our preferences. Not only does it look neat, but it also looks top-end manufactured, and it avoids the ripples.
A good tip is to finish your raw edge in the way you prefer (overlock, zig zag ). Then press the hem to the wrong side. No more than a 1/4”. Now machine on the edge. But you must have the hem underneath, not on top. You should achieve a great hem! 💕
Hope you like this dress.
Lots of mwuah mwuah’s from me 💋💋💋
Day 3, Dress 3! 💕
So this has to be one of my favourite little maxi dresses. It could literally travel anywhere. Suitable from day to night time. Shopping, holidaying, drinks with friends! (I love how the little emoji comes up with just one friend.) Or is that only on my IPad? 😊
It is another Butterick pattern B6621. This time with a few tweaks. View A was precisely the style I was looking for, but I wanted a longer version. I simply extended this pattern to the required length. But at the same time continued out to an A-Line. So not straight down.
Once again, the fabric is from Coalville Fabrics. This dress would have cost around £6 in fabric. It took approximately 2 metres to make. Coalville is introducing new fabrics all the time. If you see it, buy it. You may not find this design again, but keep watching. There will be lots more fabulous bargains to be found.
The dress is pretty easy to make. But only once you have got your head around the twist in the front. But persevere, it is really worth it. I read the instructions over and over. After all these years, I wasn’t going to let this pattern get the better of me. 😊
I soon realised what the problem was. The instructions are trying to explain it back to front. From the wrong side. Eventually, I put it on the mannequin and did it looking at it from the right side. Then it was easy peasy! Just twist it, so it looks right. Then go back in making sure it doesn’t move.
The fabric is stretch, so I stitched with a stretch stitch on the machine and finished by topstitching with a twin needle. A little finish I picked up from the lovely Ashley at Coalville Fabrics.
Then finally it had to be done... Appliqués;
😊 ❤️ you know Me and my ‘fix it’ appliqués!
The flowers in the pattern just didn’t fall right around the neckline. They just looked out of sync. Especially being in such a prominent position. And once you spot these things, you become fixated. Well, I do, anyway. 😜
Such a simple fix...I cut out 5 flowers, graduating in size. Backed them with Bondaweb and arranged them around the neckline. Iron in place and zigzag stitch to secure. Voila! Not only a fix but a lovely unique detail too. 😍
Ok, my wonderful fabric loving friends. Same time, same place tomorrow.
Tar-arr for now. 💋💋
#mccallpatterncompany #butterickpatterns #coalvillefabrics #maxidresses #memade #thatssewterryfox #terryfoxspiritofcouture
Day 4, Dress 4! 💕
I have been admiring this pattern for at least a year. I think everyone has it. It is Vogue pattern V9253. It does look very different on various people. Taking note of others reviews, I knew I needed to remove some of the fullness from the body and most definitely didn’t want the plunging neckline. So decided to make the top slightly cross over. From then on, it was easy.
Ooooo I am just taking another look at it. I have forgotten how much I love this dress pattern. And it has pockets Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! 😃❤️
The fabric is another Coalville find. £10 for the complete dress. Plenty of material to do all the pattern matching. If the pattern is large, it’s always worth putting the extra effort into matching up your centre front and back seams.
This dress does have a concealed zip in the back. No need for a stretch fabric.
So my final little addition. Guess what...Appliqués. Oh gosh, I am so predictable
😂😂 So appliqués for two completely different reasons.
No. 1
I have added a few of the blue flowers to the centre back and front seam. This helps the matching process and covers any slightly disjointed flowers.
No. 2
I have added more of the blue flowers around the hem of the sleeves and along the neckline. Adding a border-like effect to the kimono style... very happy 😃
I can see me wearing this dress a lot. Already planning another one. Fabulous for holidays. Just loving it! 💕
Hope you like this little number.
I shall be back tomorrow with dress no. 5. My mind has already started to wander off to the next challenge. Looking at new patterns and even more fabric. There is definitely a little hint of Autumn coming our way. Well there has to be. I don’t need any more summer clothes.😃😂 oooooo I have just had a thought. I must put a ‘ me made’ coat into the collection.
Ok I must go off on my fantasies. Give my fabric a hug. Take care my lovely stylish friends. Mwuah 💋💋
#voguepatterns #mccallpatterncompany #coalvillefabrics #kimonostyledresses #memade #fashionover50 #sewover50 #sewingquarter #thefoldline #thatssewterryfox #terryfoxspiritofcouture
Day 5, Dress 5! 💕
Another major trend for this summer is the return of The Shirt Dress! It comes in all shapes and sizes. So I had to have one. But then it took me a long time to find a style with the correct balance of design for me.
This is one of those times when the fabric came first. I brought this cloth back from my travels to Jaipur in India. Two years ago. It’s hand block printed cotton. I have it in two colours. We visited this village in the middle of nowhere and watched the cloth being made. What I love about it most of all is that it’s not perfect. It’s all a bit winky wonky. Just like me. 😄
I wanted a long dress, low calf length. With a tie self-made belt. But No bulk around the middle. So ideally a waist seam, darted top and fitted A-line skirt. Eventually, I found it. Butterick B6640.
The indigo is the better colour for me, but of course, I had to introduce the second colour just because I have it 🤩. So I applied it to the facings and belt only and did a great sneaky trick to help bring it together. Simply add the facing and roll the contrast to the right side and press. This creates false piping. Works particularly well in pure cotton. No need to topstitch the buttons and buttonholes keep it secure.
Such a classic shirt dress. Quirky fabric. Still needs an edge. So pink collar and cuffs it is then. And to top it all off pink buttonholes. Now it feels like mine. What do you think? Do you like my monkey dress? 😄❤️
I will wear this casually. Sleeves rolled up, and I am on hunt for some white flat sneakers! Fab for work.
Bye! 💕
#butterickpatterns #mccallpatterncompany #fashionfabrics #thatssewterryfox #terryfoxspiritofcouture #memade #sewover50
Day 6, Dress 6! 💕
I really wanted to make a quirky short shirt dress (say that in a hurry) one with a bit of an All Saints/Vivienne Westwood edge to it. I have two great patterns to choose from. I decided on McCall’s M7863. I love how it worked out. Although you won’t be surprised to know, I will make the other one too. 😊💋
I think this is an excellent pattern for all shapes and sizes. It’s classic with a twist. Smart or casual. Sooooo my style!
I had plenty of cotton fabrics to choose from, and it doesn’t take a lot. Around 2 1/2 meters. But then the challenge becomes finding a piece the correct length. Oh, the agony of it all. 😂😂😂
So this Batik was perfect in weight, colour and I had just enough ...A winner! So now I am in quirky mode. Let’s have a little contrast for the button band, collar and cuffs.
Next up...BUTTONS!! Remember the buttons? These are the ones I found in my collection. I bought them from Liberty of London years ago...waiting for their big day.
💕 ❤️ so I used two of the sizes. (See the photo attached ) They are Mother of Pearl and reflect the colours in the fabric beautifully. Really pleased finding these. Worth the hunt! 😄
And finally. Guess what’s next...go on, say it...Appliqués. YAAAAAAAAAAAAY. I never knew I had such a thing for them. But here they are again. It’s become a little sort of signature of mine.
This time two fabulous hummingbirds. They are made up of small pieces of different coloured batik fabrics. All put together to create the shape. Then machined in place using free motion stitching. I shall definitely explain this technique in more detail another time.
So that was day 6...Gone. One more day to go. Oh, it’s been so much fun. I don’t want it to end. But at least I get to wear all my new dresses. And of course, I am cooking up a new plan for our next adventure. Ooooooh what can it be teehee. 😉
Mwuah. Mwuah. Mwuah ❤️
#batikcotton #McCallpatterncompany #terryfoxspiritofcouture #’thatssewterryfox!’ #libertyoflondon #motherofpearlbuttons
Day 7, Dress 7! 💕
Awwwww the last day has arrived 😭 I need more dresses! 😊 Maybe the next challenge should be one a day FOREVER! 💕 Wouldn’t it be great if life was that simple?
So back to reality today’s dress. YES! You have seen the fabric above, and YES! You know that pattern! It just had to be done. ❤️
Vogue V2401 in the lovely pink Michael Miller print. This is my 3rd dress in this pattern, and I have a 4th cut out ready to go!
So some of you will remember 'The journey of my Ascot dress' (if not it's in the blog) which is the same Vogue pattern. Remember how I managed to cut the dress from far too little fabric? This time I had nearly twice the amount of material and still had problems. But for different reasons.
This fabric has a border print. I laid my skirt pieces along the selvedge edge using the large fountain in the print to be the focal point at the centre back and front. The skirt pieces are quite long, so they went way up high into the pink area of the design. Leaving me not a lot for the top half of the dress.
The top pattern is cut with a Dolman sleeve. This is where the bodice and sleeve are cut as one. Far too big a pattern piece for what I had left. So I needed to dissect the sleeve from the bodice. Which ended up fabulous as it meant I could take the sleeve hem down to sit on the border.
It did mean I have a join under the arm to shoulder. But that's ok. Another pattern might have had that anyway.
I made up the dress as before and added my little trick to the collar. A small piece of 'sew-in' boning. So the collar can proudly sit up around the neck.
And then it was...Finished!
💕
I really hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have. It’s been great fun for me . The pleasure is definitely in the making. 😃
I will be back soon with more adventures. For now, you can find out more about some fabulous Vintage finds and plenty more hints and tips from behind the seams of the sewing and fashion industry on my Facebook group. Join us on the link at the bottom of this post.
Enjoy yourself. Leave all your patterns all over the place, ready for the sewing fairies to come in.
in and team them up with the perfect matching fabric from your stash. (Mine do 😍) Creating a wonderful collection as if you have just walked into Harvey Nic’s and spent a fortune. Then all will be lovely in our world. 💕
Fabric hugs for now Mwuah, Mwuah 💕 ❤️
#MichaeMillerfabrics #Voguepatterns #McCallspatterncompany #terryfoxspiritofcouture #’thatssewterryfox’! #lovesewingmagazine #sewstylevintage #Selvedgemagazine #threadsmagazine