Despite the fact that a calendar year is really an arbitrary block of time, there is something about an impending new year that gets me motivated to check things off the list. Be it a sewing project or the never ending To Do list at work, I always try to make that final push to put projects behind me, add one more tick in the Done Column. Almost as if, in doing so, I will truly feel as if I deserve a break. (Note to self: You deserve a break anyway)
I fully appreciate this is ridiculous. I tell friends constantly that they need to step away from the computer, take time for themselves. But when it comes to taking my own advice, I kind of suck at it. I have pushed against workaholic tendencies my whole life (made harder when you truly love what you do). But, I can only hope that next year will be the year I finally embrace the idea that I don’t need to be The Best. I just need to be My Best.
The Design
Speaking of The Best, the Crossneck Tiki Dress (converted from a vintage pattern to a printable pdf by Subversive Femme) is very quickly becoming one of the best dress patterns in my estimation. I’m obsessed with the bodice design, which adds a bit of flair to an otherwise mundane sort of day.
I‘ve always had a thing for colorblocking, but for some reason, have been hesitant about trying it out myself (matching up those seams perfectly is always a little daunting). But, as often happens, it just takes the right inspiration to strike. And it came in the form of 1/8″ gingham in mint and periwinkle from AA Cotton Creations, that was just calling for me to mix and match ’em up….
To recreate this dress, you will need:
The Construction
It’s always such a gloriously speedy process to make a dress from a pattern you’ve used before – you’ve already done the heavy lifting of testing the pattern and making fit adjustments, and therefore can just barrel ahead with the fun part: sewing! I laid the pattern out, making sure to cut one half from the mint gingham and one half from the periwinkle (swapping left and right for the back panels). I took care to match up the checks, and we were off!
Note: For those who may be seeing this pattern for the first time, I didn’t take many photos of the process for this dress, because I went through the construction in more detail in this post. If you have any questions and are struggling to work out how to put this one together, check out my previous post, or pop a comment below and I’ll try to help!
Once they were cut (along with matching pieces of lining from solid cotton I had in my stash), I quickly sewed in the darts on each side and attached the lining (it’s the trickiest part of this pattern, especially at the center front where the neck pieces cross over). But, it went much more smoothly this time around and I was pretty happy with it.
Although it wasn’t in the original pattern, I also added 1/4″ boning with casing at the side bust for a little bit of extra support, which I found to be really effective in my previous iteration of this dress.
With the bodice done, I turned to my skirt. To keep the colorblock effect, I needed to cut two 1 yard panels each of the mint and periwinkle gingham, which I would sew together and match up to the bodice at the front, back, and side seams with the opposite color. So, I cut out my panels and stitched them together at 1/2″ seam allowance.
I pressed each of the seams flat, and then ran one side through my ruffler foot (Bernina Foot #86) for my Activa 220 (my favorite gadget for perfectly gathering a full skirt). This handy little device can get 4 yards down to 29″ in about 3 minutes without breaking a sweat.
With bodice and skirt complete, I attached the two together at 1/2″ seam allowance. To match up the seams, giving that perfect colorblocked effect, I recommend doing a few quick basting stitches at those four points first, and pinning the rest. That way, you can be sure that any minor movements that happen amongst the gathers while sewing won’t disrupt the points where you want everything perfectly aligned.
After sewing up the back seam, I pinned in the zipper, relying (as ever) on Gertie’s lapped zipper tutorial to help me along. It’s an amazing step by step guide for getting a zip in on the first try, with the waist seams matching up perfectly minus hours of unpicking and deciding it’s “good enough” (I know you sewists know what I mean…).
Then, I pressed up the hem allowance, securing it with a hand stitched blind hem. After a quick steam, I stepped back and marveled at how quickly this one came together. I think once you make this pattern once and work out the kinks, it is a dress you can easily finish in a weekend.
The Debut
Well, I guess we can cross the Colorblock Challenge off the List! I absolutely love how it turned out and seriously want to make this dress in a million different color combos (red and pink? yellow and orange?) The possibilities are endless…. I even went full tilt and colorblocked my shoes!
Hey, if you’re going to go, go hard…
Things have been winding down nicely over at the lab. My grad students hit some major milestones this past week, a large grant is going in, and I feel like I’ve made good use of my Research Reassignment (essentially I was free of teaching this semester, which meant I got to devote more time to research).
I think in my final role as supervisor in 2022, I’m going to assign all of us a real break – to go home, spend time with family, and think nary a thought about brains.
Here’s hoping I can take my own advice…
xoxo
Construction Details:
Dress pattern: Historical Stitches 1007 via Subversive Femme
Fabric : 3 yards each of Mint and Periwinkle 1/8″ cotton gingham from AA Cotton Creations
1 yard of medium weight fusible interfacing
Additional notions (zipper, thread): JoAnn’s
Outfit Details:
Dress: Made by me!
Floral Wrap Belt: Modern Millie’s, in mint
Bracelet: Mosaico, European Accent (similar)
Handbag: Bouffant Bungalow Vintage (near identical)
Shoes: 2 pairs of Jeffrey Campbell – one of each color (same here & similar here)
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Any items marked with a “c/o” (courtesy of) a retailer mean I was provided with an item for free in exchange for a review and/or feature on my blog. I always provide my honest opinion of any item I’m reviewing, regardless of whether it was sent to me as a courtesy item or if I purchased it myself. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links or ads on this site, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase at no cost to you, which helps with the day-to-day running costs of my blog.