So I’m finally letting go of my favorite season, SUMMER… and on to Fall. All made tolerable with some gorgeous fabrics from Style Maker Fabrics. The good people there invited me and some other very talented sewists to participate in their Fall Style Tour.
A Fabric Hoarder’s Dream! They’ve got a yummy palette of all those autumn colors. The rich, saturated rusts, golds and oranges that signify the change in weather. You can visit their site for a full preview of the fall collection.
Fabric Selection
It was a struggle to chose because there were sooo many wonderful options and this launched my own fall fashion sewing. I had to decide on the vibe and color palette for the next few months to put together something both cohesive and functional. Deep reds and rust are predictably on trend this season so I went with the inspiration of fall foliage. As to what to sew, I went with a look that’s elevated comfy with some upscale pieces thrown in.
My first pick was a floral challis in black. The design is so lovely and it’s reminiscent of Art Deco floral prints. Challis is an easy fabric to work with, provided you take some care. I am particularly careful when I lay the fabric out on my cutting table so that I don’t stretch or distort it. I work with fresh needles only to prevent snagging which actually should be a basic practice.
My second pick was a butter soft “rayon sweater knit” in rust. This is a rayon/spandex blend with 100% stretch. It has as much drape as it has stretch, so I took advantage of this to make an asymmetrical top.
Pattern Selection
My pattern of choice for the challis was a tiered empire waist dress from McCalls #8104, the “Dawn Dress”. I used the pattern as a starting point. View B was my option, but I added a ruffled bottom layer to turn it into a maxi dress. The band facing was omitted because I chose to line the dress instead. The challis is very light weight so the lining will allow me to wear it deeper into the season. Buttonholes were sewn just 3/4 of the front length to allow the front to flow open. I styled them with my fave shoes from this summer, these chain link sandals, to make the look more casual.
For the knit, my base pattern was this Burda 6477 pattern which actually is intended for wovens. I omitted the gathered lowered sleeve and lengthened the bodice back. Because the fabric is so soft, I added a light-weight fusible interfacing to all hems to give them structure and prevent the dreaded warping when stitched or sergers.
Here I styled them with distressed “mom jeans” and the same sandals. I also can see pairing this top with some black ponte knit leggings/pants and chunky black ankle boots.
Pretty pleased with how both garments turned out.
A big THANK YOU to Style Maker Fabrics for including me in the tour. So let’s keep the fun rolling because the next stop is the lovely Tiffany of TipStiched. Stop by her blog to see what she has created for fall.
If I’m your first stop, here is the complete list of contributors. Thanks for stopping by!
Wow! That dress (and you BTW) looks like a million bucks. So rich looking. I’m sure people will be thinking “who is THAT lady!?”
Thank you so very much!