liberty fabric

Shirt by Tracey

Pattern, drafted by Tracey and Lindsey Knott

Fabric, Liberty Lawn Paisley Print, B&J Fabric

Did I fool you with the title? Since it’s a sewing blog, you may have thought that I meant a silver lining literally. Like a lining on a garment. In this case I meant a silver lining as in what a dark cloud always has. My grand plan for this week was to post pictures of a dress that I’ve been working on for awhile. But like many grand plans, it just didn’t work out. I had a choice point a few days ago that I could rush through to get it done or I could take a little more time and get it right. I opted for the latter. So, as of Thursday, I had nothing to post. Santiago and I talked through our ideas and discussed skipping a week, but neither of us wanted to do that. Then I thought of this shirt. I really hadn’t planned on putting it up on our blog. Not that I don’t like it. I actually love this shirt. It’s one of the first patterns that I designed and drafted and therefore it’s intentionally simple. Because it’s more of an everyday shirt, it wasn’t an obvious choice to post.

Santiago and I looked it over and well…I can’t say that we were overwhelmed with ideas about how to photograph it. But you know, sometimes having limits can really be a blessing. What we had–a basic shirt, a small amount of time, our own home as a location, and my bad mood, forced us to get creative. Not only do I like how the images turned out, but I love it that this humble little shirt is getting its moment in the spotlight (literally!).

As I said earlier, this is one of the patterns that I designed myself and then drafted with my instructor Lindsey (read more about her here). It’s made from a really nice Liberty paisley print and it turned out to be a great project to further my pattern making skills.

Next week we are going to show you something fun. And if all goes according to plan (haha!!), you will see a dress in two weeks. If you don’t, then you’ll know I’ve gone further down the rabbit hole with this thing.

See you soon.

Bohemian Tea Dress by Tracey

Pattern, Burda 112

Liberty wool/cotton blend, B&J Fabrics

Photography by Santiago Vanegas

Can I be honest about this dress? I’m kind of on the fence about it. Throughout the process of making it, I felt like everything was on track and it was shaping up to be exactly what I wanted. But when I finished and put it on, I was underwhelmed. It isn’t an obvious miss, but something is not quite right. I think the issues might be in the waist area. The center front panel is supposed to lie flat while the side panels are gathered. The gathers pull the front in a weird way that looks a little off. The belt helps with the overall look, but I had hoped to wear this dress without a belt too, and there is just no way. (To see the dress without a belt, click here.) If I had been buying this dress, I would have been in the fitting room a long time trying to make up my mind about it. And I am someone who makes up my mind FAST. We’ve all been there. If you buy it, it ends up sitting in your closet unworn. But if you don’t, you regret it, and it becomes a better dress in your mind. You have those days when you think, “I should have gotten that dress, it would have been perfect today”. But if you really had the dress, you would put it on, and then take it right back off again. You see where I am with this thing. Well, I made it, and it will be in my closet. We’ll have to wait and see if it gets worn. I sure do love the photographs, though! Very trippy! Obviously, Santiago can make anything look good.

Next Sunday, The Joy of Silk. Have a great week, and stay warm!!