Ellie and Mac – Tres Belle and Wrapped in Love Dress Hack

Hi Friends! Long time no chat, no blog, no sewing. Sorry life has been a little busy this summer, but I have several fun things coming up including a new Youtube video. I hope you have been enjoying summer (or winter) and have been doing a lot of fun sewing or enjoying life. I haven’t sewn much recently to be honest. I am working on a quilt block swap and I made a small zipper pouch for a swap, which reminds me I should share that. I took lots of pics while putting it together. Anyhow back to our regularly scheduled sharing.

My newest dress is amazing and I am in love with it already. I bet it won’t even shock you that it is a pattern hack from Ellie and Mac. I used the two patterns to create this look. I have used each of the patterns several times, but apparently not together. I am so glad that I was able to remedy that situation because I am thrilled with the outcome. I used the Tres Belle bodice which I have used multiple times. Most recently, I used it on a guest blog post for Ellie and Mac. This is one of the few cross front patterns that I really love which is why I keep coming back to it. This one has enough coverage without having “too much” coverage. It is all about balance and I am trying to understand the rules. 🙂 The only adjustment I made was my typical bicep adjustment. 

For my skirt portion, I used the Wrapped in Love pattern and only cut the skirt. I have used this pattern a few times as well. I love that the maxi length isn’t overly wide and I can wear it without tripping up the stairs. This is criteria for what makes the perfect skirt in my book. 

I normally don’t go for fabric that has a lot of white areas, but there was no way I could resist this print though! If you have read this blog much at all, you know I wer all the florals! This fabric is available from Stitchin’ Pretties and it is called Lydia. Here is the link.  I really love ITY because it feels cool even when it is hot outside. It seems like it is becoming my favorite choice for warm weather. Don’t forget when you shop at Stitchin’ Pretties all the regular priced fabrics are buy two yards get a bonus coordinate for free. So choose wisely and buy all the pretty things!

Here are my affiliate links my friends!

Tres Belle Pattern

Wrapped in Love Dress

Lydia ITY Fabric

Guest Blogging over at Ellie and Mac

Hi Readers!

Today I am guest blogging on the Ellie and Mac blog! I am hacking the Be Graceful Maxi with the Jersey skirt to make a super trendy handkerchief hem tunic! Trust me! You want to come over and learn how to do it!

I used some STUNNING ITY fabric from Stitchin’ Pretties. The more I look at it, the more I think about beautiful sunsets! Trust me when I say, you need this one!

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Camilla – My Dear Friend

Last week, 5 out of 4 hosted a Sew Along on their website/Facebook group/Youtube Channel for the Camilla Top. I usually don’t get super amped up about Sew Alongs because I don’t like to drag a project out for days. However, if I love the project as much as I love Camilla…Game On!

I have made several Camilla tops and you can view them by clicking the link. Camilla is a fairly quick sew especially when you have made it  few times! Give it a try!!

Let’s talk about fabric. I want to start by saying I am 100% in love with the feel of this fabric! Hello cool drapy goodness…I need you in my life! This fabric is Cameron ITY and it is from Stitchin’ Pretties. I love ITY. This one was easy to sew, cool to the touch, and has the best drape EVER! The Camilla top really needs a fabric with amazing drape to make the best of the front cowl neckline.

I just ordered another ITY print from Stitchin’ Pretties. Don’t forget that during this whole Covid Crisis, Stitchin’ Pretties is offering to throw in an extra 1 yard of fabric for each 2 yard cut you order! Psst… for the record, a medium box will hold 12 yards…. that may or may not  be just what I ordered. I should have my fabric in hand by Saturday! Laura is a shipping ninja! #SupportSmallBusiness

The Camilla pattern

OPTIONS INCLUDE:

• Sleeveless, Short, Elbow, 3/4, Long, and Extra Long Sleeves;
• Shirt, Tunic, A-line Dress, and Swing Dress;
• Maternity option;
• Band option for each sleeve length, including thumbhole cuffs;
• Hem Band Option;
• Optional Pockets for Swing Dress; and
• Optional ruched sides of bodice

This time I decided to do a straight 5x to have a little more room through the bust area. Since this is an older 5oo4 pattern, it doesn’t include the FBA which is now included with their patterns. I also graded out to the A-line dress lines, but cut it at a tunic length. This allowed me to have a little more room overall. My sleeves are elbow length.

Are you ready to start shopping now?

Here is the Cameron Fabric.  Don’t forget, order 2 yards, Laura will throw in a bonus yard of her choice!

Here is the Camilla Pattern.

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This blog contains affiliate links.

Love Notions – Tessa Dress

Love Notions has tons of great patterns. They are currently increasing the size range of some of their older patterns, but the Tessa Dress in still in the smaller size range. Lucky for Momma Mia, she fits on that chart! I decided to make this dress, because I had these fantastic prints and wanted to make a color block dress.

Let’s start with the fabric! These are my strike off prints from Stitchin’ Pretties. They came with a lovely hand written note saying they would love to become a dress. 🙂 Sneaky hints, yanno. So I decided I would see if I could fill that request. At first, I though I would make a Willow Cross front dress, but was a wee bit nervous because these two fabrics are a notably different weight which made me a bit nervous. I thought I would do one half of the bodice in each color, but talked myself out of it. I decided Momma Mia would get a new dress. I ended up choosing the Tessa because I loved that it was already perfect for some colorblocking. 

I knew I would put the heavier weighted fabric at the top and use the rest for the body. That was 100% my plan until I forgot to cut the body as a mirrored pair. Ugg. I could have screamed or cried!! I have talked several times on my blog about how Momma Mia doesn’t like crazy prints. I knew color blocking the back of the dress was going to be a risk, but you can’t uncut fabric!  Here we go! Snip Snip, Snip! I have a new back dress panel! This dress actually sewed  quickly, as it is just typical sewing, no fancy techniques even though it looks awesome!

So these trendy prints are from Stitchin’ Pretties. I love love love the quality of the fabric I get there. Laura ships within a day and offers great pricing with exceptional customer service. There is almost always great deals to be found in the clearance tab as well. Today I used Jane and Martha. Jane is the brown and blue striped fabric. It is a poly lycra blend which means it has great recovery. Martha is the name of the dots!! This print is a mid weight ITY and sewed up nicely. I love this print because “Who doesn’t love dots??” You can shop here.

Let’s talk more about Tessa. This is a knit sheath dress with loads of options. You can choose from 2 necklines, scoop and boat neck. This is the scoop. There are 5 sleeve length options including this one, which is 3/4. There are two hem length options as well. I choose the long, but there is a knee length dress option too! The back seam allows for some contouring (or colorblocking.) You can also mash the Tessa with the Sybil skirt collection for even more options!

Overall this was a quick sew with a great outcome! Momma Mia loves it!

Here is my afflink to pick up the pattern so you can make your own Tessa!