cherish
Some selfish sewing – a dress for me! I was lucky enough to win a copy of the Crafty Mamas Cherish Dress pattern recently. I paired it with some beautiful soft bamboo/lycra (I think – it drapes more softly than cotton/lycra) from stash. If only I could remember where I bought this fabric, I’d immediately get some more – so drapey yet substantial, and a terrific colour.
Let me tell you, this dress is so easy to make! One pattern piece for the front, one for the back, and bands for the neckline and armholes. All assembled on the overlocker, and the hem has been fused into place with Vliesofix, but not sewn. There is no topstitching elsewhere in the dress, so I decided to see how long a fused hem would last before I stitched it down.
I cut this out as a size Medium through the neck and armholes, widening to a size Large from the underarm seam down. I wanted it to skim over my waist and stomach bulges rather than cling to them! It’s a very bra-friendly design, with the gathers at the front neckline giving nice shaping and detail. The armholes are cut in a little at the back.
I’ll possibly accessorise with a scarf or necklace – or like today, with leggings, a 3/4 sleeved knit cardi, and a brooch. This pattern can be made up at tunic, knee, calf or maxi length. I rather fancy a maxi in a print – maybe I should make one this afternoon!
I’ve been meaning to link to a few posts that I have found interesting to read recently, all for different reasons.
- SewRuth’s post on the popularity of young, thin sewing bloggers
- Kathryn’s post about how she made her daughter’s incredibly beautiful wedding dress
- Barbara’s post about being a noticed sewing blogger
- Phyllis of CoudreMode’s post about proportion in sewing
- Gorgeous Fabrics University videos
- Leimomi’s series of posts about her visit to Kalaupapa.
Have you read anything in the sewing/crocheting blogging world lately that has made you think?
nice job…I like it…it hangs quite nicely..
Great colour and style. Definitely a winner. Looking forward to reading those blogs when I have a bit more time 🙂
That is a really pretty fabric. I am loving orange the moment but unsure whether it loves me. Your dress is a really practical style that can be dressed up or down.
Looks like a very useful pattern and looks lovely on you Lara. What a great win!
Another fabric snap! Congrats on your win, it looks like such a comfy dress and it will be perfect for the really changeable spring weather we’re having 🙂
That is such a lovely colour on you. Can you make it to anither meet-up on the 17th November?
I’m going to read the SewRuth post again tomorrow. I read it last night and to be honest I felt quite cross. I’ve been thinking about it all day LOL. I’m going to think about it some more and read the post again tomorrow. I didn’t comment on the post as I think my thoughts wouldn’t be very well received – it felt like a group mentality of knock over the skinny people and lay the boot in to be honest. I’m not young enough to be classified as a ‘young skinny blogger’ but I am thin. naturally. Maybe it’s all the flak I’ve copped over the years for being built like a toothpick, which like any weight issue can be a blessing and a curse, maybe that experience is reflecting how I’m reading SewRuth’s post.
Anyways far more importantly, I love your dress and I’m interested in bamboo fabric. That dress would be a great base for playing with accessories! And that’s always fun!
Thanks for your comment Lizzy! That’s why I said that I found the link interesting and food for thought – not that I necessarily agreed with the comments! I don’t like the “anti-skinny” mentality that can appear either. We all are as we are – and as sewing bloggers, it’s all about sewing for our own shape no matter what it is like. And no one size or shape is “better” than the other. We all have fitting issues! And we all like to look great in what we make. Thanks for complimenting the dress – I’ve actually already finished another ankle-length version!
On re-reading the post on SewRuth, I don’t think that it was criticising the young/skinny but rather was trying to examine potential societal influences on sewing blog popularity. I can think of many examples of popular sewing bloggers of all sorts, young, old, thin, fat, short, tall, etc, but maybe there is a preponderance of young & thin among the popular. Interesting topic.
I agree, it is interesting, I don’t think SewRuth’s post was so upsetting to me but some of the comments were. I just think that there are some pattern designers out there at the moment, Christina Hayes, Colette, Megan Nielsen, Gertie, Deer & Doe and their designs do seem to be more directed to younger fashionable stitchers or those interested in modern retro fashions. And if there is a market out there, more the power to them for creating that market, catering to current fashion and delivering a product that ensures another generation of stitchers is created. That is a good thing.
I have never complained because I am thin. I simply am and I accept that, it has benefits and pitfalls like any size. I come from a family of petite women who give birth to relatively big babies – I had two nine pound babies – where is the justice in that! I don’t diet and I don’t exercise. I am simply built this way. I never see people as thin, fat, tall or short. My husband is 14 inches taller than me and I just don’t see it, weird I know. But he is just my dearly beloved and we are the same height in my mental world. People are just people in my little world. However snide, cutting people sit in a different world to nice, kind and thoughtful. That is what counts to me.
I rarely post any of my sewing methods, as I have seen the cutting comments that get posted on some blogs and I just don’t want to put myself out there to be crushed. I sew for fun, I sew to make clothes I like and wear (and yes I wear my wiggle dress!!). I love to see methods posts, I also love to see how people wear their clothes and how they accessorise them. You can make beautiful clothes but you have to know how to wear them as well.
Thank you for your response – I was a little nervous to press post, but I just wanted to stand up for the smaller people out there that do like to sew and shouldn’t feel like there isn’t a place out there for them in blogland. I really resent feeling that I don’t fit the category of ‘normal sized’ or ‘real’. Everything else in my life is normal sized and real – I’m just dealing with it in a pint-sized frame. I am not less of a person because of it. I often joke I’m a 6 foot 6 extrovert in a garden gnome’s body.
I will sleep a little better tonight 🙂 Sorry I’ll shut up now…
Thank you for listening. x
Love the fabric and colour on you as you look fab in it.