There are certain kinds of fabric that just call to you. As someone who is all about the clash of geometrics and florals, with a particular penchant for border prints, it should come as no surprise that Gertie’s latest Hopscotch Gingham in cotton sateen would steal my heart. The tricky part: which color to choose??
Because you have all pretty much moved into my sewing room this past year, I’m sure we can all say it together, “Why choose just one??” Don’t be surprised if this fabric pops into your IG feeds and inboxes on a make (or three), because there was no way to choose just one color way….
To be fair, the blue color way was the first I had seen and the one that made me fall in love. A beautiful azure blue backdrop in a wide checked gingham, with roses scattered throughout and a thick border print of larger roses, ending in a solid band of blue. Like I said, love at first sight.
Because Spotlight doesn’t ship to the US (bugger it!), one of my very best friends kindly shipped it to me all the way from Aus and into my sewing-obsessed arms (both the green and blue color way!). It really didn’t disappoint: it’s a super saturated print and the fabric has a slight stretch to it, which is fabulous for making a fitted bodice.
I so wish (sew wish?) Spotlight would start sending things internationally one of these days, cause I know several Stateside ladies who were similarly salivating over this one….
The Pattern
As is every sewists struggle: what do we make with it? After hemming and hawing over my pattern stash, I decided to go with one of the most beautiful dresses I had ever made: The Liz Dress. Although those bust cups can be vexing, I had made it before and knew how to avoid the common missteps.
I decided to use the border print along the hem and the straps, and go with a contrasting bust (I found a Kona Cotton that pretty much watched the blue hem perfectly).
Because I’m always a girl who likes to upskill, I also decided to try my hand at a matching, reversible bolero to match the dress. Although I have had the Dorothy Bolero in my pattern stash for awhile, I’d never given it a whirl before. No time like the present…
To recreate this dress & bolero set, you will need:
Construction – The Liz
Because I’ve gone through the construction of a Liz before, I’m not going to go through each step in painstaking detail here. But, definitely check out this post if you want more of a step by step walkthrough. Thankfully, I had endured the process of pattern tracing, toile contruction, and pattern tweaking already, I had pattern pieces in a size 6 ready to go!
I laid the pieces out on my fabric, matching graininess. Although I regretted it afterwards, I wasn’t too pedantic about pattern matching because I was so keen to get it done. But, looking back, I wish I had been a bit more careful, because it gives such a polished look in the end.
I decided to use the large roses along the straps, for a darker pop of color (I really loved this effect on my last Liz). I was careful to try to make the two pieces at the front mirror each other as much as possible.
Once all of the bodice pieces were cut, I quickly cut out a lining out of some extra light blue fabric I had in my stash from a previous project. I also cut out interfacing for the bodice (rather than an underlining) to help stabilize the fabric, but make it a bit less bulky.
Step one is pressing all of the interfacing to the bodice pieces – be sure to press and not move the iron much, because you can create ripples in the interfacing (which can show through to the other side).
Ithen sewed darts into the back bodice, and stitched together the front midriff pieces together, attaching them to the back bodice pieces, pressing all of the seams flat. I quickly repeated the process for the lining.
Next, I zipped together the straps, starting by stitching the two front pieces together at center front and then connecting the pieces at the shoulder (also repeated for the lining).
Then, with right sides together, I sewed the strap front to the lining, and clipped like a madwoman around all of the curves. Then, you flip it to the right side, understitch, and press, press, press….
Next up, I sewed the bodice and strap together. This part is one of the trickier steps, so check out my last post if this is your first time making a Liz. If you go slowly and use a LOT of pins, trust me it will go together neatly.
I then moved on to cutting out the bust cups, which I knew I wanted out of a contrasting fabric. For me, I found that size 6, D/DD bust is ideal. I made it previously in the B/C, but the girls have gained some momentum these last few years…
Because my bolero was going to be reversible, I cut out the bolero pattern out of the contrasting fabric as well.
The bust cups have quite a few elements and can be more than a little fiddly. Again, because I’ve made this dress before, I didn’t photograph each step of the process (but feel free to refer to this part of the construction in this post).
But, carefully following the instructions, I got both the bust cups and lining together with minimal issue, attaching them to the bodice.
Then, it was time to make the skirt! I wanted the rose border along the bottom, showing the blue contrast to match the shelf bust, with a 29.5″ from waist to hem final length. I quickly measured and cut my fabric to 31″ (29.5″ + seam allowance), with 4 glorious yards for the skirt.
Then, with my very favorite ruffler foot (Bernina Foot #86), I quickly gathered along the length of the fabric, getting it to my waist measurement plus seam allowance (I shared a reel a short while back on my IG to help you work out ruffler math if this is something you struggle with!)
Then, I attached the skirt to the bodice, careful not to let the ruffles bunch up (which they are definitely inclined to do).
I then put in my 18″ lapped zipper, careful to match up the seams. Although these used to stress me out, I can almost do them without thinking now (but check out this tutorial if you still find them vexing).
I then quickly completed my finishes: stitching the lining to the bodice, adding a blind hem, and carefully pressing in my custom made garment labels. I was pretty much as in love with the final dress as it was humanly possible to be!
Construction – The Dorothy Bolero
With the dress done, I turned to a new (to me) pattern: The Dorothy Bolero. This promised to be a pretty simple make, with very few pattern pieces. Using the recommendations based on the size chart, I went with a size 8 in this one (but will probably size down to a 6 if I make this one again).
As I had already cut out the bolero in the contrasting fabric. Because I wanted to bolero to be reversible, all that was left to do was cut it out again in the gingham fabric.
I started by putting tiny darts in the back bolero piece, and pressing them out. Then, I stitched the pieces together at the shoulders and side seams.
I carefully slipped the curves and pressed the seams flat. You never want to avoid these steps – they’ll keep all of your seams laying neatly. I repeated these steps with the solid blue pieces.
While the pattern itself also provides just a facing if you prefer, I really wanted the option of flipping between the gingham or a solid blue option. So, I stitched the solid blue and gingham pieces together around almost the entire outer edge.
I then cut notches around all of the convex curves and clipped into the concave curves – this step will take awhile (it’s almost an entire curved edge), but is necessary to keep that seam smooth when flipped.
Once it was clipped, the time came to flip and press. Something have found handy for this is a small wooden dowel. I used it to press the seam out as much as possible, and press, press, press.
To keep everything in place, I topstitched all around the edge, using a matching blue thread. Then, I pressed up the edges of the sleeve cuffs, and sewed them together with a ladder stitch.
This would have actually been a very normal stopping point – the bolero was complete and looked adorable. But, you know I can never leave well enough along. I loved the reversible nature of the bolero, but found that the blue side was looking a little….plain. And we just can’t have that.
Because I take my responsibility as the Appliqué Queen rather seriously, I wanted to bring some of the print to the plain bolero with a biz of rose appliqué. Luckily, I had some scraps of leftover fabric that has a few intact roses…
I started by pinning two pieces of fabric together, focusing on the side of the fabric with the rose. Using my water soluble pen, I traced the general shape around each flower.
Setting my machine to a very tight zig zag stitch, I stitched around the perimeter, following my drawn line as closely as possible. For this, you don’t need to be crazy-precise, but want to make sure you don’t stitch over the print.
I repeated these steps for a few other, slightly different roses. I then carefully cut just at the outer edge of my stitches, being sure to avoid cutting into any of them.
Then, I used my Fray Check and dabbed it all along the perimeter of my zig zag stitch. This will keep the edges from fraying (the zig zag prevents a lot of this, but it’s an extra step to ensure the edges stay neat).
I knew I wanted one of the flowers on the front, and a second on the back. I played with placement a bit until it looked how I wanted. I was really happy to see that it was looking exactly how I imagined in my head.
While working on my flower garden, I had the idea of a way to add a bit of extra bling to the design. In a past project, I became more than a little enamored with prong set rhinestones. I had quite a few extras in pink and clear, which would be perfect to punch up my appliqué.
For this, I decided to use flatback rhinestones in SS16 in light pink, with push-through flatback rhinestone settings.
For each, I drew dots onto the rose where I wanted my rhinestones to me with my water soluble pen.. Then, I took a prong setting and pressed it up from the back side of the appliqué under my dot, making sure the four prongs pierced through the other side.
Flipping the appliqué over and holding the setting in place, I added the rhinestone stone to the center of the setting. I then carefully pressed down each prong one at a time by hand, using a set of small tweezers. I repeated it for each rose, with about 5-6 rhinestones per bloom.
I pinned them back onto the blue side of the bolero, and attached them using a small slipstitch. To keep the bolero reversible (and not see the stitches through the other side), I took care to be sure I only caught a single layer of fabric, rendering the stitches invisible.
I slipped the bolero on over the dress on my dress form, and was bowled over by how pretty she was. Seriously, a dress has NO RIGHT to be this pretty. I love the contrasting colors and the juxtaposition of the graphic gingham and the soft roses – the perfect mix of sweet and sassy…
The Debut
I got to take this beauty for a spin on the most amazing girl’s weekend to the Outer Banks in May – it was the first time I had seen my best friends in over 2 years. Much like water to a rose garden, the trip seriously fed my soul.
I need to remind myself to take more time for myself – to see friends, take off on a spontaneous Tuesday, or have an evening out with Mr. Dressed. Because gardens definitely don’t flourish without turning their face to the sun…
My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece
Claude Monet
Summer is the perfect time to watch things bloom. The sun is shining, the beach is calling, and petals seem to reach upwards of their own accord. Mr. Dressed is away visiting family this week, so I’ve been using the time to get organized with a few work projects that have been collecting dust, and trying to shake the dust off my sense of adventure to get out of the house and into the sun.
It’s no surprise to me that, when things are crazy, I always turn to making the most beautiful things I can manage. Finding the space between the madness and the beauty in the world has always been an odd place of comfort. Because no matter what life throws at me, I will always have those flower petals to break my fall.
Here’s to cultivating the most beautiful garden we can.
xoxo
Construction Details:
Bolero & Dress Patterns: Charm Patterns
Dress fabric : 5 yards of Hopscotch Gingham Cotton Elastane Sateen
Bolero and bust fabric : 1.5 yards of Kona Cotton in Kona Cotton in Niagara
Rhinestones: SS16 light pink + settings
Additional notions (zipper, thread): JoAnn’s
Outfit Details:
Bolero: Made by me!
Dress: Made by me!
Necklace: Stranded Treasures
Handbag: Mary Frances Accessories (similar)
Shoes: Kat Maconie, sold out (similar here & here)
.
instagram // twitter // facebook // pinterest
.
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.