Hi Friends,

I can’t believe it’s been over nine months since I last blogged! I’ve neglected this poor old blog for way too long but in my defense, I have been sewing a whole lot for myself (you can see most of my recent makes here on instagram), discovering more about what styles I like and what I don’t and, well! just got busy with life in general. With no pressing deadlines and pattern testing, blogging just got pushed to the back. But, I actually really like writing so hopefully i’ll be here more often going forward 🙂

This summer, we took our kids on a surprise vacation to New York and did only those things that they thought would be fun to do. It mostly included strolling around the city, trying out different restaurants, reading and lying down by the window of our hotel room, with the most amazing view of Manhattan, and the taxi rides. The last time we visited the city, they loved it so much but were terribly exhausted with all the touristy things we’d packed into our schedule. So this time around, we skipped everything, a completely agenda-less trip – no Statue of Liberty, no Ellis island, no wax museum, no hop on – hop off tours…just a whole bunch of chilling, lounging and eating and some more eating. We did go atop the the empire state building though, the kids really loved looking through the tower viewer and pointing out all the landmarks they recognized 🙂 Just so much fun!

We stayed in the heart of the fabric district you guys! and I came back with no fabric and absolutely no regrets either. We all had an amazing time but I believe it was really me that got the best deal because, no meal planning or cooking or cleaning for 5 days, awesome right?!

I should probably get writing about my Fringe dress now before you get tired of my excited rambling! I found this lovely eyelet fabric from Joann fabrics a few months ago, and almost instantly knew it had to become the Fringe dress. The fabric is so delicate, so pretty and so sheer, I just kept putting off cutting the fabric (cutting fabric happens to be my least favorite part of sewing) until the need for a vacation wardrobe came up. And then, I spent some more time deciding how I wanted to use the embroidered border.

Also, this fabric didn’t photograph very well. It’s actually a very light blue and white pinstriped fabric with white eyelet embroidery.

I’ve already made this pattern before, and really can’t get enough of the pretty neckline and sleeves of view A so I chose to make it exactly like the first one but with tiny modifications to accommodate the pretty border.

Instead of cutting the sleeves on the fold, I cut them out on one single layer and increased the sleeve length slightly so I could fully use the eyelet border. I loved the look of the cinched up sleeves with the tab in my first version so I added the button tabs for this version as well. With this fabric however, I prefer and like the look of the longer sleeves better, what do you think?

I had to do away with the curved hem as well, to be able to use the border. Marking a point about 1.5″ above the lowest part of the curved hem on the skirt pattern piece, I drew a straight line across the pattern and used that length for both the front and back skirt pieces. And that’s all the changes I made.

Before making the dress, I deliberated a lot on whether to make it fully lined or just line the skirt and wear a tank top underneath. In the end, I figured i’d make a full slip to go with it.  I used a cotton/poly blend fabric and the Crystal Cove Cami tank pattern to make my slip. I cut the pattern at the lengthen/shorten line and extended it by about 10 inches.  The slip turned out super cute and I love it but it does add some unnecessary bulk and  the folds in the slip are sometimes visible through this dress (it’s only slightly annoying). Next time I make a slip i’ll make sure to use a more appropriate fabric like a cotton batiste or satin perhaps?

I think that covers all the details on my new beloved Eyelet dress 🙂 I reach for my Rayon Challis Fringe dress all the time, it’s a silhouette that I find very flattering and I know this new Eyelet Fringe is going to get a ton of use as well.

I can’t wait to show you the rest of my vacation wardrobe pieces so stay tuned and until then..Happy Sewing!!