And Lacey Makes Three

To recover from my missing sewjo in June I decided to make a pattern I've made twice before, the Lacey Dress by Style Arc. This is a great pattern to use with stripes, and it's also a nice loose summer dress to wear on hot days.

I had some rayon that I bought at a PatternReview weekend in Chicago in 2016 so it was time to use it! I really like the print but I do find the colours a bit duller than I'd remembered; the pale blue with red gives a mauve-y feel to the dress as a whole. Not sure I completely love it - but it is comfy! 

Because I've made it twice before I just cut without worrying about any pattern alterations. I cut the central bodice pieces with the stripe horizontal, and the outer sleeve and skirt with vertical lines. But I was challenging myself to see if I could sew it all together in 3 hours like a Great British Sewing Bee challenge -- I just made it -- but just like with the timed challenges on the Bee, there are therefore mistakes. I think I will take the skirt off and resew it more neatly and evenly. You can't really see it in the photos (or probably in real life much) but the waist seam is uneven, it's higher in the front, and it's driving me nuts! The problem with rayon that likes to shift and stretch... 

I wore it to work this week on a very warm day and it was cool and airy to wear. I stopped to take photos in the rose garden in the churchyard that I cut through on my way to work; it matches with the dress nicely! It certainly was quick and stress free making a pattern that I was already familiar with, but I have to remember the maxim, Haste Makes Waste, and not try to compete with Sewing Bee timing ;) 

Style Arc Lacey Dress, Take Two

I first made the Style Arc Lacey Dress in 2018, in green seersucker. It was a heavier fabric so I ended up changing the Lacey's gathered skirt to a pleated one. This time, I am using a vintage rayon, very soft and drapey, so stuck with the original design. 

It's kind of nice making a pattern for the second time: most of the adjustments have already been made! I often write all the changes I've made, when I'm first trying a pattern, onto an index card and slip it into the pattern envelope. It's very handy to see what I might have done that I haven't marked permanently onto the pattern pieces.

I was glad I had noted that the Lacey needed to be taken in by an inch at centre front and back -- I often do this for many patterns as it is a quick way to narrow my shoulder/chest area. I shift the pattern 1/2" off the fold at the neck and angle it so that the wedge is a few inches long. This isn't exactly kosher patternmaking/altering but it always works for me. 

In any case, I was very happy to finally get to this project, which I've had in mind since last summer. This fabric was given to me a couple of years ago by a friend's mother -- it's quite old rayon and had some frayed holes along one edge of the selvage. Fortunately I was easily able to cut around the holes and get this amazing striped fabric to shine to full advantage in this pattern, which really highlights a good stripe. 

I switched the pocket bags to my default pocket, as the drafted one is teeny. Because this fabric is so soft and drapy, I was able to avoid having to make any other size alterations. The Lacey is an easy make, no closures and a loose fit that looks good and will be very cool in the summer. But it's not too loose, so I don't feel sloppy in it. 

I love the way this vibrant fabric looks with alternating stripe directions and a gathered skirt. It's a straightforward design, with minimal Style Arc directions, but then it isn't very difficult at all. The bodice design is clever and goes together quite nicely, with the front and back shoulder/sleeve all in one piece. 

This Lacey dress gets a thumbs up from me -- I have a feeling I will be wearing it a lot this summer. This is one of my planned May projects done; two others are cut. I am feeling much more like sewing lately!

StyleArc Lacey summer frock

I just realized I made this dress, Instagrammed it, reviewed it on PatternReview, and never came back to my blog to share it! It's now a month old at least -- so here is a slightly delayed review of the Lacey Dress from Style Arc.

In quick summary: I liked it after a few alterations.

I started this pattern because I thought it would be a great design to highlight some striped fabric I picked up in Toronto in June (at King Textiles)

It does indeed look wonderful in stripes! But there were a few small issues with my fabric choice. It is a bit too stiff to work with a gathered skirt. I tried it, and it was quite dreadful. So I quickly unpicked it and converted to a pleated skirt. Fortunately for me, the amount of gathering I need for the skirt to fit the bodice was an even number - 6" exactly. So I folded out two pleats on each side of both the front and back skirts, matching the inner pleat to the seam of the centre panel to keep things looking tidy. This skirt falls much better with some nice crisp pleats!

I also found that there was still too much fabric in the waistline and perhaps that is again down to the body of the fabric. However, I pinched out a crescent of fabric between the underarm area and the top of the pocket, with the widest part being one inch at the waistline seam. Once I'd basted that and tested it, I stitched it down permanently and much prefer the look this way. I'll go back and make those changes on my pattern pieces for next time for sure -- this is such a fun style and so comfortable to wear I am sure I'll make another one in more suitable fabric!

This is a very cool dress to wear in the muggy weather we've been having because it just floats around the body. It was fairly simple to make - no closures and the side panel/sleeve is a neat feature. I really like how the centre panels at front and back make it easy to add little touches like stripes going in opposite directions - it would also highlight some colour blocking nicely I think. This is the first Style Arc pattern I've made which fits me well, and I am very pleased with it!