Happy Tuesday Friends!

Hoping and wishing that you’re having the most amazing week in this beautiful, albeit pollen filled spring weather. My daughter blew on one dandelion the other day, just one! and her allergies flared up so bad! the poor child promised herself she’d never touch another dandelion again 😦 who knew one little flower could ruin a whole weekend?! But the past weekend also brought with it lots of joy and laughter. It was my birthday weekend, and having friends drop by with cake and gifts and above all, lots of laughter and good company made my heart so happy. And then my girlfriends took me out for a surprise breakfast! It was so thoughtful and sweet and plain awesome! Nothing delights the soul better than good old friends 🙂

Okay, onto my Madrid dress now! The Madrid dress is a faux wrap dress or tunic with a tiered skirt. When I saw Olga’s dress, I really wanted to try this style, mainly because of the tiered skirt which I’ve been seeing everywhere these days. It’s a style I’ve never tried before.

The fabric is a gorgeous rayon crepe that I got from a local Fabric Outlet almost two years ago. It has a lovely drape and is velvety soft to touch, with a bit of texture. I bought enough yardage with the intention of making a maxi dress out of it.

Picking this fabric to make the Madrid dress was the easy part. But making this dress was an achievement of sorts in terms of fitting. I’ve been sewing for long enough to know what fitting issues I can and cannot tackle. And, bust adjustments is one thing I’ve never been able to conquer because a small bust coupled with my height or lack thereof, made fitting wrap bodices an enigma for me.

But anyway, I plunged into making this one and after a couple muslins started understanding my shape and the personal fit adjustments I would need to get a great fit. Olga was very helpful and guided me to some useful bust adjustment resources. It was frustrating and puzzling but 4 muslins later, I got it to fit me just right.

So here’s a breakdown of the adjustments I made:

• shortened the bodice by 3/4″
• a small bust adjustment
• moved the waist dart towards the center front by 1/2″
• moved the side dart up by 1/2″
• shaved off 1/8″ from the armscye
• shortened the second tier by 1″ and third tier by 2″

This is one of my favorite shots (below) because you can kind of see the bust darts and the invisible zipper (if you look real closely at the side seam) that I can’t resist showing off.

Once I got the bodice fit down, everything else was a piece of cake. Even the usually boring task of gathering fabric didn’t seem particularly arduous. I did struggle a bit when deciding the final length and asked for my family’s opinion. They all unanimously insisted that I stop at the second tier because the midi length was just perfect. So I went in and added the third tier making it maxi length 😎

Adding the third tier is in my opinion the best decision I made with this dress because it feels like the maxi length does full justice to this beautifully swishy soft paisley Rayon. Too many adjectives I know but what can I say, you have to touch this fabric in real life to know what I mean.

Phew! that was a lengthy post and I am gonna stop right here. The Madrid dress is currently on sale available on the Coffee and Thread website. It’s a lovely pattern with clear instructions and beautifully finished seams.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a great rest of the week!