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My latest make is one that I am so proud of and definitely deserves its own blog post.  I haven’t had the chance to sew on such a grand scale in quite some time and it was so wonderful to break out of my comfort zone and get back to my roots.  Many may not know, but I started my sewing journey when I was nine and mainly worked with woven fabrics.  It eventually led to me designing and creating my own prom dresses in high school and then branching out into knit fabrics after I had J.  So when I saw the call for seamstresses that were interested in creating something over the top and amazing, I knew I wanted to be a part of this journey!!

It all started with an amazing collaboration between Fabric Anthropology,  George & Ginger Pattern Co. and some stunning fabrics.  The fabrics in the fashion week collection were designed for Kristi’s show at LA Fashion Week – She freaking killed it btw and there is a live video in her Facebook group if you’d like to see it for yourself – and are now being made available to everyone else thanks to Melody over at Fabric Anthropology.  The collection features four prints: Fierce, Flight, Fight, and Growth.  I was lucky enough to work with the Flight and Fierce prints.  I started out with an idea of a bohemian wrap dress and started looking for inspiration from there.  If you’d like to see my vision board for this project, you can find it here.

Next, I went on the search for a pattern that was similar to the look I was trying to achieve.  I settled on a Burdastyle wrap dress pattern, which led to many complications.  The first one was that the pattern instructions were redundant and extremely confusing.  I’ve sewn up Burdastyle patterns before, without issue, but this one really took the cake.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so confused as I was when reading through those instructions.  Nevertheless, I compared my measurements to the size chart and started work on a muslin.  Unfortunately, my first muslin did not turn out as planned.  It came out large enough to fit two of me in it so back to the pattern I went.  I sized down and tried again.  This time the fit was closer but I noticed that the drafting around the armsyce was not correct.  So onto muslin three, I went.  I tried to fix the drafting error and came close but still, the fit was off.  I became frustrated and decided to put the project away for a bit.

Thankfully, a few days later, I saw an advertisement for the new Magnolia Dress from Deer & Doe Patterns.  While it wasn’t the true wrap dress that I had planned, I knew that I could modify it to be what I was looking for.  Plus it was drafted for a C-cup so there was no need for a full bust adjustment!  Yay!!  I quickly printed out the pattern, made my modifications, and set to making my fourth muslin of the dress bust.  This time the fit came out perfectly!  I’m not even going to lie…I did a happy dance right then and there!  A huge wave of relief flooded over me.  After all of the failed attempts, I had started to get discouraged and was doubting my abilities.  I set to sewing up the final dress and once done, I couldn’t wait to get out and photograph it!

Earlier in the fall, on one of our mountain adventures, I had found the perfect backdrop for the photo shoot.  It was two hours from my home, but completely worth the drive.  It was in a previously burned area of the forest with charred trees and little undergrowth.  Unfortunately, the weekend before my planned photo shoot, the area received 18 in. of snow!  So Plan B was set into motion.  With the fresh snow, I headed up to a grove of aspens located near my house.  The snow actually turned out to be a blessing and became the perfect backdrop for the shoot.  While it was freezing and I had several cars drive by or stop to ask what I was doing, I’m so glad I ended up shooting there.  I can’t wait to get some of the photos printed to hang up in my future sewing space as a reminder that you can accomplish anything if you set your mind to it.

This project may have pushed me to the brink of my sanity, thanks to all the fit issues and a terrible pattern choice, but I’m so glad that I pushed myself to work with woven fabrics again.  It was proof that I am more than capable of accomplishing a more tailored garment than my more forgiving knit garments I’ve been sewing recently.  As T. Roosevelt said, “Believe in yourself and you’re halfway there.”  I want to thank Melody for allowing me to be a part of this amazing group of seamstresses and for igniting the spark in all of us.  I’m so glad to have been along on this fun ride and can’t wait to see what other projects and amazing fabrics the future brings!  ♥

If you’d like to get some of your own Flight, Fight, Fierce, or Growth, or to see all of the other amazing creations, head on over to Fabric Anthropology and shop the preorder open through October 21.