Let’s Dance: First Day Dress Pattern Goes to a Wedding

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

At the very beginning of the summer we attended a family wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony, a gorgeous day, an awesome setting for the reception, and we were celebrating a wonderful couple. But none of that really mattered to my children, because they were solely focused on the dance floor.

While the guests were enjoying cocktail hour on a grassy lawn overlooking Long Island Sound, my children were already inside checking out the dance floor and giving it a spin. Treating it like their own personal stage. The only complaint they could muster — the deejay didn’t have “Ghostbusters”, their first choice in dance tunes. (Thank you to Aunt Claudia for instilling such fine taste in dance music!)

Despite my son’s concern at one point during the evening that the other guests might steal “his moves” (I kid you NOT!), my children had me dancing the night away as we celebrated the happy couple. I honestly don’t think I’ve spent as much time dancing at a wedding as I did that night. I’m sure my husband, a perennial dance floor-avoider, was relieved the kids took up his dancing slack. And while I don’t have any live action shots to prove it, the dress I made my daughter for the wedding really hit the mark for spinning and twirling and all things dancing. You’ll have to just trust me on this one.

As reenacted in our yard.

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

I chose to sew the First Day Dress Pattern by MADE. I was familiar with the pattern from the peplum tops I made my daughter last spring here and here, so the sewing was familiar and quick. I sewed up the sleeveless Swing Dress option, and my only alterations from the original pattern were to cut the neckline with a slight dip in the front and to lengthen the opening in the back.

The main fabric is Amy Butler – Violette – Meadow Blooms in Midnight, purchased from Hawthorne Threads. I love the blast of colors and floral design. It’s like wearing a watercolor painting. It is lined in a pin dot fabric in medium pink.

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

I sized up for the dress since at this age my daughter’s chest measurement typically bumps her up a size in patterns (whereas her hip and inseam measurements call for a size smaller!), and from my prior projects I recalled the chest being the slimmest part of this pattern. The dress was ultimately a bit big for her, so I probably did not need to size up after all (especially since the changes I made to the neckline and back opening already allowed for a more generous fit through the chest). No worries, it just extends the period this dress will fit her!
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The pattern provides for different lining options, and I hemmed (ha, ha) and hawed about which direction to take it. In the end, I chose to make the lining facing right side out — specifically because my daughter tends to do a lot of this when wearing a dress:

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

She even does that to me when I am wearing a dress, which has made for some awkward moments at the grocery store. Yikes! Hellooo there!

However, when twirling, it looked like this:

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

But who cares, you can’t let an exposed lining hem stop you from dancing and having a load of fun celebrating with family and friends! And besides, the reality is that unless you were laying down on the dance floor, you really couldn’t see the inside of the lining.

First Day Dress Pattern by MADE, sewn by fromwholecloth.com

The dress was subsequently worn to an end of the school year celebration and to church, so it made the rounds a bit. All before her refusal to wear dresses set in … which, by the way, seems to maybe, just perhaps, be receding?! Oh, I hope I didn’t just jinx it.

Have a great week!

 

Polka Dot Peplum in Knit

I told you I like this pattern. It’s the First Day Dress Pattern from MADE – again! I like it so much I sewed up a second peplum in the same week.

polka dot peplum sewn by #fromwholecloth

When Dana recently posted a bunch of finished garments from her pattern, there were several polka dot peplums. They looked so darn cute I was inspired to make my own. Polka dots + peplum = perfection! And alliterative overload.

Peplum #2 is made from a knit fabric. The fabric was in my stash – I believe I purchased it from Girl Charlee. It doesn’t have much stretch, so I’m guessing it’s all cotton.

polka dot peplum sewn by #fromwholecloth

Knits are a staple in my daughter’s wardrobe and I was hoping to add this pattern to the knit repertoire. Knit was not included among the recommended fabrics for this pattern, and I was curious if it would work or if, for example, the peplum skirt would fall flat in a knit fabric.

I wanted a quick way to determine if the pattern would support this kind of fabric without expending too much time or using more fabric than necessary, so I some modifications from the full pattern instructions for this “muslin.” I didn’t fully line the bodice — essentially I made more of a “facing” by lining enough of the top bodice portion to allow me to enclose the raw edges of the neckline, armholes and the back slit. I didn’t pay close attention to the length of the facing when cutting it, and I ended up with just enough to cover the back opening. Phew! I didn’t line the skirt at all.

Despite taking a quick and dirty approach to the bodice, I decided to fully line the sleeves. The underside can sometimes be seen when the top is worn, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity for a fun surprise underneath, and I was concerned the knit fabric might cause the sleeves to droop in an unflattering way. I really like the perky sleeves that you achieve with woven fabrics in this pattern, and I was hoping to mimic that in the knit top. I ended up using a woven fabric to line the sleeves, both because the color worked well (it’s a yellow polka dot print) and I thought the woven fabric would lend structure. Also, since my knit exterior fabric is not particularly stretchy, I wasn’t concerned about the combination of different substrates creating a wonky or misshapen outcome. I also added piping between the bodice and skirt on this peplum. Just for fun and an extra dash of color.

There are two levitra prices http://deeprootsmag.org/2015/10/27/beautiful-restraint/ common types of chronic pancreatitis: alcoholic and biliary. bulk buy viagra deeprootsmag.org Some people also claim that these special Acai Capsules are natural appetite suppressants, but these claims have not been scientifically proved. The later canadian viagra click to find out is the most prominent reason to impotence, but hormone misbalance may be a factor too. Unhealthy lifestyle habits like poor diet, viagra sales australia lack of exercise, smoking, chronic alcoholism and use of illicit drugs can increase the Nebwenwirkungen Kamagra. I should mention that while I often size down when sewing a kid’s woven fabric pattern in knit, I didn’t size down in this case – both because of the more fitted style of this particular top and the fact that the knit I used is not very stretchy.

You think this is a jump rope? Heck no - it's a microphone!

You think this is a jump rope? Heck no – it’s a microphone!

My verdict — I think the pattern works well with knit, bearing in mind I used a lighter weight knit with limited stretch. I’m pretty confident it would work just fine with a medium weight knit, too, but you might lose some of the peppiness in the skirt because of the additional fabric weight. Also, next time I sew this in knit, I’ll just line the whole bodice. Making the facing was intended as a shortcut for this muslin, but a full bodice lining doesn’t use much more fabric and I didn’t really save any time with the facing. The full lining would also eliminate any bumps or shifting that the facing might produce.

I’m so glad to have another pattern option for sewing with knits!

In case anyone was wondering… how do I know when my daughter is ready to call it quits on our photo shoots? She launches into crazy eyes poses!

polka peplum5Polka Dot Peplum

 

Yep, time to call it a day!

Pretty Peplum: First Day Dress & Top Pattern

first day top sewn by #fromwholecloth

I admit, I’ve been converted.

I have historically not been a fan of the peplum. Perhaps because I don’t believe it would be a particularly flattering style for myself, and so my mind just clicks off at the thought of them.   The whole volume at the hips thing; it’s just something I try to avoid. But when Dana of MADE posted the creations by the pattern testers for her new First Day Dress Pattern, I was immediately smitten with the peplums. (You can check out her post here.)

I could not resist the power of the peplum. It went like this: read Dana’s post, ooh & aahh, buy pattern, choose fabric, cut, sew, smile.

first day top pattern sewn by #fromwholecloth

The First Day Dress and Top Pattern was released about two months ago. I liked it when I first saw it, but since I already have several little girl dress patterns (not all of which I’ve sewn yet — *confession*), I decided to hold off on purchasing it. But the peplum …. well, the peplum’s a bird of another color — it’s a top not a dress! I’m completely justified in my purchase! Ahem, of course, that’s not to say I won’t be making the dress versions included in the pattern, too.

first day dress and top pattern sewn by #fromwholecloth

In addition to my new found peplum-adoration, I just adore this fabric. It’s Dainty Daisies from Joel Dewberry’s Bungalow collection. The top is lined in a solid olive by Amy Butler.

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1st Day Peplum

Let me tell you, this thing’s got SWING! You just have to twirl in a top like this.

As with Dana’s other patterns, the instructions are thorough and make for an easy sew. Since Daisy is starting to size out of size 2T, I made this in a 3T even though she met the size 2T measurements. My only modifications were to cut the neckline slightly wider and also cut the back slit 5 inches long, rather than 4 inches. (Thanks to Erin at hungie gungie for that pointer!) The finished garment is intended to be fitted through the bodice, which makes it extra feminine, so these modifications assisted a bit in helping pull the dress over Daisy’s head and shoulders. I also finished the hem using a method I learned from The Cottage Mama patterns, as opposed to the method shown in the pattern. It feels a bit funky at first, but once you get the hang of it, it makes finishing the hem on a lined dress a breeze.

I would definitely recommend this pattern. Not only does it produce a great looking result, it has several options included (A-line dress/top, swing dress/top, with and without sleeves), so you totally get your money’s worth out of this pattern. I still can’t believe I completely overlooked the peplum option when the pattern was first released.

first day dress pattern sewn by #fromwholecloth

She likes this top. I like this top. Everyone’s a winner here. Power to the peplum!

first day dress pattern sewn by #fromwholecloth