Diary Of A Novice Sewist: Patchwork Dress
Patchwork Dress Made with IL020 CORAL Softened / IL019 IRIS Softened / IL020 SILVER LILAC Softened and striped cotton fabric. Photo: Karoline Frank
Just in time before the summer is over I made my new absolutely favorite summer dress. A few weeks ago I managed to have a whole weekend off. No work, no baby, nothing. Just me – getting up whenever I want, staying up late, watching trash TV and sewing until my machine starts to smoke – metaphorically speaking. All of that with ordered food and voilà – that’s my perfect me- time.
So – my fabric was washed, the pattern printed and cut out – I even had some new blades for my roll cutter (who am I??)!
Patchwork Dress Made with IL020 CORAL Softened / IL019 IRIS Softened / IL020 SILVER LILAC Softened and striped cotton fabric. Photo: Karoline Frank
I started with the stars. I remembered which size I made them the last time for my blouse (which I wrote about here ) and knew that I wanted them to be bigger this time. So I cut the fabric (like butter – I always forget how extremely nice it is to cut with fresh and sharp blades) and sewed the first pieces together. Turns out – adding 5 cm to every quarter doesn’t make the stars “a bit” bigger. To be a bit more clear – those were some big a** stars. Not exactly what I was planning to end up with, but I loooooooved them! I ended up changing the whole plan for the dress again. And to be completely honest – I love when my projects develop and grow. To start something and allow yourself to change direction isn’t always easy but always feels so liberating to me.
Patchwork Dress Made with IL020 CORAL Softened / IL019 IRIS Softened / IL020 SILVER LILAC Softened and striped cotton fabric. Photo: Karoline Frank
So let’s talk about the process:
My original plan was to sew that extremely gorgeous new pattern by Flora Child. It’s her first pattern for adults but she is one of the best go-to for kids pattern wear. The dress is short and has long flowy sleeves with a loose neckline. You can also use the pattern for a blouse. Super cute. (There is even a version for children as well, so HELLO cute Mini-Me outfits!)
Patchwork Dress Made with IL020 CORAL Softened / IL019 IRIS Softened / IL020 SILVER LILAC Softened and striped cotton fabric. Photo: Karoline Frank
The stars should be unevenly spread across the dress with an uni-colored background. And now you can probably see the problem. How could I spread these stars if one star alone took up nearly the same length as the whole dress? …yeah… that was not going to work.
So I thought I’ll just sew the whole dress out of these big stars. BUT – not so fast. One star wouldn’t have been big enough for the whole front/back, two would have been too big and wouldn’t have had enough fabric for the sleeves. So I ended up on Pinterest – and that’s where I came across a dress I saved last year. It’s a dress by La Reunion and it looks completely different from the dress I ended up sewing. But it’s the same vibe and it just inspired me to sew my dress the way I did.
Patchwork Dress Made with IL020 CORAL Softened / IL019 IRIS Softened / IL020 SILVER LILAC Softened and striped cotton fabric. Photo: Karoline Frank
In the end, I used the top part of the Chloe Maxi Dress by Makyla Creates and added 4 stars gathered as the skirt. And I’m so proud of how it turned out. I really enjoyed this whole journey and I LOVE the way the dress looks and flows.
So as cheesy as it might sound – don’t forget to just go with the flow from time to time!
Bussi Sophie
PS: I used IL020 CORAL Softened / IL019 IRIS Softened / IL020 SILVER LILAC Softened. The striped fabric is deadstock and from my stash. It’s 100% cotton and not from fabrics-store – but it fit so perfectly with the other colors so I used it.
PPS: All photos are analog by my talented “little” sister Karoline Frank
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Sophie Frank
Sophie is a self-taught sewist living in Vienna, Austria. If she's not sewing or taking analog photos, she's probably running after her son. Instagram: @bitte.mach.dasLeave a comment
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8 Comments
Janet Conery
Cute baby, cute dress, love your posts!??
Sonja Van laar
Sophie-your dress is beautiful and you are, too! I love reading your stories. You share such fun details about your journey, the patterns, your process. I am always happy to see when you have a new post. Hugs to you and your cute little one, too!
Gayle Gray Doyle
Love the dress Sophie! I also admire your perseverance….
Elizabeth Barron
It’s gorgeous! I just love it! And I ALWAYS enjoy reading your posts Sophie. Keep them coming please!
Pam Powers
Lovely!
jessica be
Absolutely beautiful ? and your son is to cute too! Having at least a day to myself would be an amazing let alone a whole weekend would probably near impossible. Even though my daughter is 15 I have an 8 month old puppy I can’t let out of my sight and maybe have an hour to work on sewing a day if I can squeeze it in……
Again your dress is absolutely beautiful!
Marla Myers
I love your story. Thank you so much for sharing with your sewing tribe. How did you finish all of the seams created with the piecework on the opposite side of the dress?
Dawn Williams
Love the dress and the process! It looks stunning, comfortable and the bodice is a great fit!