Project by Sally Kendall
Hey everyone! Welcome to my first blog post as a part of the blogger team.
Now, I had to start with a bang didn’t I? If you ever thought, no I can’t make dresses then think again! I love dressmaking as it means I don't have to conform with fashion trends and it helps me express my personality!
The sewing pattern I used to make this dress is the Kinfolk Dress by Jennifer Lauren Handmade. Construction is a breeze with no fastenings and casual grown-on sleeves. A gentle rounded neckline and in-seam pockets are paired with a pretty A-line shaped skirt, falling to just below the knee.
The Kinfolk Dress has 40s bohemian style at its heart. Part kaftan, part-wrap style dress, slip Kinfolk over your head and wrap the front waist ties around to the back to cinch in the silhouette however you please.
According to my measurements I fell into 18 E cup for bust, 20 waist and 22 hips.
I had my little black cat Ava assisting as a pattern weight while cutting out.
Before making a start on sewing up my dress, I make sure I have everything at hand ready as nothing worse than getting frustrated as you can’t find a certain item. Not forgetting the most important thing to keep me going is a cup of tea in my favourite mug!
At any opportunity, I love to add a garment label to my makes. With my little helper this label was quite fitting as no doubt it contains cat hairs just with her sitting on my fabric.
A little tip of sewing your garment labels in the right place.
With this dress the neckline was finished with facings, so with the back facing, I folded it in half to find the middle and marked with a pin.
Then with my snazzy little sewing ruler, I marked with a pin where the seam would be when sew in into the bodice. Measured from the bottom of the facing then went from there to get it perfectly placed.
I sewed in place using pins to secure the label and voila the perfectly placed label.
This soon whipped up in no time and I was so pleased when I had constructed the bodice of how pretty it looked, I had to take a mid progress shot.
The skirt was easy to construct and I added the elastic to the back to cinch it in.
To help the facings to sit in place, I ‘stitched in the ditch’ basically, where the shoulder seam is, stitch where the previous stitch line is and only go to the end of the facing.
This dress is so comfy to wear yet looks so pretty. It served me well with a lunch date with my Hubby at Wagamamas.
Hope this has spurred you on to give dressmaking a go or to try a new to you pattern.
Happy Sewing!
Sally aka The Yorkshire Sewist
To see more from Sally, follow her on Instagram/Facebook @theyorkshiresewist and don't forget to check out her website!
Made by Sally Kendall for The Craft Cotton Co 2022.
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