My favourite things blog tour hosted by Sewing By Ti

by - 07:00

I'm so excited to be included in this tour with Sewing by Ti! I have taken part in a couple of other tours in the past few months, but this is the first time here.



I originally signed up to make something for my daughter. She is the person I primarily sew for, little girls dresses and outfits are just so rewarding. However, I've shifted my bias after sewing a dress for myself and thought I'd sew myself up another dress to write about. But, you know, life happened. I got as far as tracing off my size (fingers crossed!) and cutting out the traced pieces and then everything stalled. I was in a rush to make some orders for Avocado Pear, then in a rush to make some items for my daughter's birthday and sorting out the kids (summer holiday chaos) that the dress for me just got pushed to the side.



So it's back to the original idea, and a dress for my daughter.



It just so happens that her birthday was this month, and the dress I made her was perfect for this post. She loves long dresses, she doesn't own many, they're impractical for a little girl who splashes in muddy puddles and climbs trees. But there are occasions when a long dress is just 'needed'. Her birthday was one of those occasions.



I chose to splash out and bought the Chalk and Notch Cascade Maxi. I've loved the look of it since I first set eyes on it, but have been continually put off by the meterage of fabric it takes to make. In age 5 (my daughters size) it needed 2.8m of 115cm width, or 2m of 150cm width fabric. It's not the end of the world, but it doesn't make for a hugely cheap dress unless you can find some bargain fabric! So I printed off the pattern, stuck it together and rescued some lovely cotton lawn/voile that I had bought in France two years ago from the bottom of my (extensive) stash. I laid out the pattern, and hey presto, it fitted with space.



A few months ago, I read this review by 7 Pine Design and this basically sealed the deal for me. I've been a bit wary about new patterns recently, and if this lady says the pattern is good, I tend to believe her wholeheartedly!



The pattern came together in exactly the way the blog suggested it would. All the pieces simply fitted together beautifully. I chose to French Seam the skirt seams together. My fabric was super thin, floppy and uncooperative, and frayed really badly. So a french seam seemed the safest bet. I had to use my walking foot, and sewed slowly to avoid my fabric disappearing into the bobbin casing, or sliding off sideways, but I persevered. The seam allowances easily allow for a french seam, and instructions are included too.



I had a slight problem with the length. My dummy is only age 2-4 and when I put the dress on it, it was long and far too wide. No worries I thought, she's bigger than this now anyway. I measured my finished length once the dress had hung for two days, and found it to be a few cm's longer than it should have been. So I cut off the excess and hemmed as instructed. To make my hemming easier, I overlocked the very edge of the fabric, which made ironing the 1/4" first turn much easier.



I shouldn't have worried too much. The dress was an almost perfect fit on the day. The length was spot on, just above the floor at the back, and ankle length at the front, but I did have a gaping back in the elastic. My daughter is a pain to fit, and more so when it's a surprise and I can't fit to her as I go along. Her chest measures 23.5", so she is easily into the age 5, and I thought it would be a lovely fit, but this dress sits below her shoulder blades at the back, which puts her more into an age 2-3. I remedied it though by taking out 3" of elastic and sewing it back up. Now it hugs her back without any gaping, and she happily wore it all day long.



And now, this post ties in really well with my favourite sewing tool. My very recently acquired bodkin for inserting elastic. Mine was bought by my lovely husband from Amazon. Honestly, I don't know how I have managed all these years without one. I only got this for my birthday last month, but it has been invaluable ever since. I now relish inserting elastic into a casing, instead of finding every excuse under the sun not to do it!



You'll find all the other blogs in the tour here:


Tuesday, August 1st: Intro and Tenille's Thread
2nd: Stitching At Night
3rd: Sewing By Ti
4th: Needles To Say
5th: Very Blissful

Sunday, August 6th: The Fairy Dust Bin
7th: Anne-Mari Sews
8th: Sewing With Sarah
9th: Thats Sew Lily
10th: Stitching at Night
11th: EYMM
12th: Sew Sew Ilse

Sunday, August 13th: Lulu & Celeste
14th: Seams Sew Lo
15th: Tales From a Southern Stitching Mom
16th: Stitching and Making
17th: Creative Counselor
18th: Ma Moose
19th: Kainara Stitches

Sunday, August 20th: Embrace Everyday
21st: She Who Sews ***You are here. 😀
22nd: Idle Sunshine
23rd: My Heart Will Sew On
24th: Lovely For Life
25th: Margarita On the Ross
26th: Anne-Mari Sews

Sunday, August 27th: Made By Melli
28th: Adventures with Bubba and Bug
29th: Auschick Sews
30th: Me Made
31st: Living in Twinado Alley

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2 comments

  1. This turned out so pretty! Thanks so much for choosing the Cascade Maxi!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the superb pattern. My daughter just loves it, she got upset when I hadn't ironed it from the wash, so made me do it whilst she paraded around the house in just pants, refusing to put anything else on!

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