And The Manic Summer Sewing Continues

When Tasia announced the newest pattern from Sewaholic,  the Saltspring dress, I immediately felt my heart go pitter-patter. 

It. Is.  Gorgeous.  

And I was particularly smitten with the maxi length version of the dress (are you seeing a trend in my sewing lately?).  Despite the fact that I am usually a late-adopter of most popular patterns, I immediately ordered the pattern and purchased some knit fabric to sew it up in.  The fabric is a cotton/lycra blend that I ordered from Girl Charlee and let me tell you, this dress requires a lot of fabric!  I think I ordered something along the lines of four yards and I only had a tiny bit left over.  That’s a whole lot of fabric, ladies!

For the sizing I went with the recommended size based on my bust measurement and I didn’t grade out at the hips like I sometimes do since the skirt on this dress is rather wide and flowy.  The dress was simple enough to put together (especially since I left off the zipper since I made my version with a knit fabric) but considering it that it is rather simple to put together, it has some really nice touches.  Like the blouson top that never needs to be adjusted and the unique way that the back is finished to allow for this. 

My ties, like so many other peoples, came out super-long so I lopped a bit off of each of them after the dress was finished.  I also opted to leave the hem raw since the length was perfect as it was and would have been too short if I had hemmed it (I later found out that this dress is made for someone around 5'4" and I'm 5'6".  Always good to know for future reference).  I also made my length of elastic a bit shorter than was called for but that was mostly because that's all that I had laying around.  I will say that if you’re worried about fitting something perfectly, this is a great dress to make.  First of all, the ties on the top give you a little wiggle room with the length and the general fit of the dress and the elastic waist gives you some definite leeway when it comes to the fit around the waist (plus, it gives you some leeway after you eat a giant piece of cake…not that I would ever do such a thing).  I was originally hoping to make one more version of this dress in voile before the end of the summer but I’m quickly realizing that that might not happen.  Damn you other obligations - like washing dishes and feeding the children!

Sadly, the short-lived manic summer sewing may be coming to an end.

P.S. There's a sewalong on the Sewaholic blog with some great tips if you're interested in making your very own Saltspring dress.