Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton Blouse & Skirt

I must say that my most favorite material to sew is hands down, cotton. Maybe because I am a quilter too, and I am more familiar with the material; better than any other fabrics. Also, I wear cotton dresses like this daily even when I am just staying home. Some people might think I am over dressed and being funny, but to me, I feel comfortable in them and they are all washable! I found this dark navy and blue stripe shot cotton by Kaffe Fassett at a local store and immediately fell in love with it. I was going back and forth trying to decide whether I should make a dress or separates. It looks like a dress, but it is actually a blouse and a skirt!

I just used a pattern from one of my posts Liberty of London Top & Skirt for the skirt. Revised a little to make it into an elastic waist instead of a zipper. For the top, I used Esme Top pattern from Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style. I used this pattern to make a tunic a long time ago, but I really like the fit and I thought this would make a lovely top to go with the skirt. Speaking of the skirt, I even lined it! Fun thing is that I can wear this top and skirt together like a dress or separately. I know I will have fun fishing things from my closet to coordinate. :)

What is your favorite material to sew with and why? I would like to get out of my comfort zone and try new things during this sew my stash challenge, there are some sitting in my closet... I guess I will get my hands on them when I run out cotton (or maybe sooner!).

Versatile Summer Dress

Over the last few month I have been going though my fabric shelves and closet and reorganizing them. I felt like my problem before the pandemic was that I buy fabrics faster than I could turn them into something, but I bet I am not the only one with this problem! I decided that I need to put a stop to that and actually start sewing more. I bought a couple fabrics you see in picture above and below about 3 years ago at a local quilt store but they were lost in a pile and forgotten. I was originally planning to sew a skirt, using a bold Kaffe Fassett fabric as an accent somewhere.

After looking at them for a few days, I really wanted to turn them into a dress instead.

I am a big fan of fabrics designed by Kaffe Fassett. His design consists of bold gorgeous colors and the quilts made with his fabrics are all so stunning. I thought using such large scale fabric for a clothes might be a bit too much, but I really like the combinations and wanted to showcase the fabric rather than cutting it up small. Wearing bold prints under the Summer sun seems desirable, right?

I only had a 1/2 yard of bold print to work with for the top portion of the dress, so I knew I didn't have many options design wise. I looked though all my books and commercial patterns and didn't find any that jumped out at me. Then, I remembered that I designed a simple top several years ago, that would be perfect for this project. I made bias tape with solid fabric I had and used that to finish up around the neck.

I didn't have a solid plan of how this dress was going to look like when I first started. But for the bottom portion, I was going to use a skirt pattern (See & Sew 5840) and modify it. Then an idea popped in my head and I changed course on the design. I added fabric on the wrong side of the fabric to put a fabric string through. So, now I have the option to wear this dress as a drop waist dress, or pull the draw string to make the waist more defined.

I love how it turned out!

I love the drop waist style when I am just lounging at home, doing house chores or reading. The dress feels very comfy and flowy, perfect for a summer day. It is also fun to transform the dress with draw strings to define the waist line. I am thinking about making the same dress with solid fabric, if I use thicker fabric, it will be nice to wear during the fall with a cardigan.

Remember I said I am going to do more sewing from my stash earlier in the post? Well, I am so excited; I am working on a blouse right now with Anna Bond's fabric. I will see you at the next post.