Good day to all you stitchers and fabric lovers!
I’m here today with another borrowed post as I wanted to share my first post for the lovely White Tree Fabrics blog. When Lisa invited me to join I was so honoured as I haven’t been sewing that long (just over a year) but it really has taken over my life – in the best possible way and it’s amazing to get the opportunity to use these gorgeous fabrics and get to write about them!
So without further ado I present to you my first White Tree make… the Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress in amazing contrasting Tilda fabrics!
I have wanted to make this dress since it first came out as I am a lover of all things vintage style and was yet to tackle the staple shirt dress that I knew would be so happy in my wardrobe so this was the perfect excuse to push it to the top of my ‘to sew’ pile and try something fun with it! I couldn’t decide between these two Tilda cotton prints – the forest scene and the dots – but wait they are the same colours so why not TRY BOTH?! So that’s how I stumbled upon the idea of this contrast!
This is the kit I got from White Tree – all beautifully packaged up:
- Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress,
- 2m of TILDA COTTON PRINT FABRIC: AUTUMN TREE SEWN SPOT SLATE BLUE
- 2m ofTILDA COTTON PRINT FABRIC: AUTUMN TREE FOREST SLATE BLUE
- 2 x Matching Gutermann thread
- 2 x 19mm self cover buttons
- and the tool to make the self covered buttons!
I was already so happy at how it all looked together! 🙂
The dress went together without a hitch – I learnt new techniques and really took my time over the details. Where I would normally avoid or chose the machine over hand sewing – here I tried it all!
All those buttons and buttonholes were probably the trickiest bit but the instructions and markings were so clear it became much easier than I thought it would be. I used a blind hem foot and stitch on the hem so you can barely see it and hand sewed the sleeve cuffs, attaching the facing and all the buttons on.
Making the self covered buttons was my favourite bit – they are SO FUN! I’m totally addicted to that little tool that just does them in seconds! I also think they are so effective and give the dress a really professional finish!
The fabrics and the whole kit was a joy to work with and I love wearing this dress – it brings a huge smile to my face and noticeably others too which makes me super happy. I wore it for the big amazing sewing meet up – Sew Brum last week and it really went down a storm which is all this little dressmaker can hope for!
HUGE thank you to Lisa and White Tree for letting me make this beauty – I can’t wait to reveal my next make that Lisa and I are already plotting, the clue is you will have to wait till after my wedding in April – it’s blooming EPIC!! 🙂
Happy sewing all,
Looks amazing. You are an inspiration and I’m really enjoying your blog. Working on a Sewgirl Everyday Tunic currently but thinking about making a party dress for the work “do” in a couple of weeks time. Thanks for making dressmaking less scary!
Oh thank your Louise- that has made my day!! Good luck with your dress and let me know if you are stuck on anything- I’m always happy to help! Xox
Awesome little number Gabby. I loved seeing in real life even better!!
Yay lovely to see this gorgeous dress again. Such a good idea to pair the two fabrics. Now I want to see the next project you have planned!