Challenge Accepted!

Hey everyone, it’s Samantha again! Thank you for coming by to see the most recent make here in our mountains. I know that it’s not for everybody, but that is the beauty of sewing, it doesn’t have to be. Just the person who is going to wear it.

I made a trip to the Thrift store last week, and I found some beautiful vintage fabric. And I absolutely fell in love with it. There was a catch though , it was a package deal, to get the one I wanted I had to buy it all. It was one of those challenge accepted moments. You can see all the goodies I got, in our latest video on YouTube, https://youtu.be/xM-3x1iCk2Y . There was a particular print I knew was supposed to be a dress! There was one problem, it was supposed to be a pillow panel, and I only had 4 panels to start with. So that was going to limit what I could do , and I was going to have to get creative.

I chose the Kew dress from Ninalee patterns. Which can be purchased here, https://www.ninalee.co.uk/products/kew-dress. I love this pattern, it’s easy to fit, and i could make the strapy version . So to start I chose some fabric that was a close match to the background of the panels. I then by added a 4 inch strip of fabric to 2 of the panels, and pressed the seams. This gave me enough space to cut out my bodice front and back.

I then cut my bodice front on the fold instead of having a button front like the pattern was drafted for, because that panel was the whole point in the dress .I changed up the neckline to create a scooped neckline, it’s the perfect neckline in my opinion. So I then when I cut the fabric for the back, that was meant to be on the fold, I just added seam allowance, and cut it out so that I could add a zip, in the center back seam. On a side note the Kew dress is great for hacking you can make so many things from that bodice. It really is a amazing draft.

Now for the skirt , I had this eyelet fabric that I thought would go fabulous with the vintage feel of the dress. I decided to use the back skirt only and cut it on the fold for the front, and then I cut 2 for the back. So that I would have that center seam for adding the zipper. I didn’t see the darts in on the front the skirt, as I didn’t need them. This left me with those remaining two panels. I had this other pattern, that had these tulip shaped pockets, so I swiped the pattern piece and decided this was I then took the remaining 2 panels and cut the pocket pieces out. Ok so confession, it was this moment , I had that small mental breakdown thinking…was this too much? Had I gone too far? I mean I’m definitely not a fan of clowns , and I certainly didn’t want to look like one. And at this exact moment , I felt like Amazon was calling , saying my red nose and shoes had been delivered. But I had to see it finished, I mean I had cut this vintage fabric up , and I couldn’t let it die for nothing !

And I am so glad I did ! Because in it’s finished state, I love the dress ! It’s exactly what I wanted it to be ! And as an added bonus , so does my youngest daughter. She’s in that only wear camo and baseball hats and can out fish all the boys ( and her dad) phase ! It’s the best phase, I think. And for her to love it, I feel like that’s an accomplishment! I reckon the dress was meant for her and not me all along. That actually happens to me quite often. I will make something and it will be too big ,too small or I just don’t like the way I feel in it. But then someone comes by and loves it, or really needs it. So it ends up where I was meant to be. Probably that’s just God winking .