Dresses.  If you were to ask me what my favorite thing is to sew for myself, I would definitely say dresses.  Without hesitation.  (Well, swimsuits are pretty close to the top of that list, too.)  I can’t wait to share my newest dress as a part of the Raspberry Creek Fabrics Favorite Things Blog Tour.

Why dresses you ask?  Dresses have always been a challenge for me to buy in the store because of my shape.  I need a smaller size in the bodice and a larger size in the hips.  Add in a long torso and my proportions are way off from the standard.

As much as I love a quick dress, it is the dresses that take a little extra time that always find their way into my heart.  For the Favorite Things Blog Tour I wanted to sew up one of my favorite detailed dress patterns, the So Classic Sundress from P4P.

The So Classic Sundress is well, a classic silhouette.  The sweetheart neckline and the fitted waist make this one a winner in my book.  I did make the dress with straps but tucked them in because I love the style as a strapless dress.

The dress was sewn up with a floral CLUB print stretch crepe. If you haven’t sewn any of the CLUB prints from RCF, you are missing out.  I love all of their CLUB bases, including the two woven bases: rayon challis and stretch crepe.  I am typically a knit fabric girl.  So I get nervous when I order a woven off of the internet due to being concerned about the quality/thickness/transparency.  I know when I order a CLUB woven the quality will be consistent each time.

The stretch crepe has enough stretch to make the fabric comfortable to wear.  The back bodice of the So Classic has elastic sewn in, but the fabric adds an extra bit of ease of movement when wearing the dress.

Another of my favorite things that I am sharing with you today is the best tool out there for easy button placement!! I can’t believe I used “button” and “easy” in the same sentence, but for real this tool is amazing.  The SimFlex Sewing Gauge is a lifesaver to help accurately space out buttons on a garment.  The So Classic comes with a button guide as a pattern piece, but I have to add length in two places on the bodice making the button guide not easy to use.

I was able to place the top marker where I wanted my top button and then stretch the gauge out until there was a button also on the waistband.  I marked my button placement with chalk so I could sew my buttons on with my sewing machine.

I was planning on making the buttons functional, but I simply ran out of time.  I sewed the buttons through the overlapped plackets for a quick and dirty version of the dress.  Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with how this stretch crepe turned out!

What are your favorite things to sew out of Raspberry Creek fabrics? Here are some links to other RCF makes of mine on the blog: swim, more swim, fall sewing, and highlight. There are so many favorite fabrics, patterns and sewing tools being shared this week on the Favorite Things Blog Tour.

 

Head to all the stops on this week’s tour:

Monday: Sewjourns, Sewing and Things, and Sew Mary Mac

Tuesday: Life Sew Savory, Made By Kates, and SewSophieLynn

Wednesday: Sweet Mama Life, Replicate Then Deviate, and Stitching and Making

Thursday: Handcrafted By RED, My Sew Bliss, and Kainara Stitches

Friday: It’s Liesel, Tessa Does for Love Notions,  and Margarita on the Ross

 

Until next time….sewing and sipping,

Stacey