Happy Me Made May! This is such a fun time of year when makers show off projects that they are particularly proud of and those of us in the maker community really reflect and discuss why we put so much time, effort and resources into our chosen craft. Many makers have multiple creative crafts, so it’s fun to see a different side of your favorite makers. For example, in addition to sewing clothing, I make and sell handcrafted soap (www.fluffnfoam.com). It’s a juggle hopping from the sewing machine to the soap studio, and vice versa, but I love it! My latest sewing project was sewn this past weekend, in between soapmaking. This color explosion of a dress is the Nicks Dress by Closet Core Patterns in the fabric Pandora’s Box Viscose Challis by Minerva. If you want to know more, including how I added pockets to this pattern, keep reading!
Despite the fabric’s dramatic name, working with this challis from Minerva was a dream! This sewing pattern is fairly complicated, and I made a few mistakes along the way that needed to be fixed. I removed stitches, gathered unfinished seams, and maneuvered the fabric in any way you could think of with no problem. The fabric has a busy design, so even if you do mess up, any mistakes are easily blended into the fabric. There are so many colors and mushroom clouds and abstract shapes in this fabric, that I felt I could hear the fabric’s design. It’s so strange to think of sound coming from a fabric, but it’s a perfect pairing for a sewing pattern inspired by rock goddess Stevie Nicks.
The Nicks Dress and Blouse pattern comes with three variations – View A, which is a maxi dress with a three-tiered skirt, View B, which is a loose-fitting tunic top, and View C, which is a simple blouse with a faced neckline. I made View A, the maxi dress. Whenever an elastic waistband or armband is involved, I typically cut my elastic shorter than the recommended length. I have dainty, delicate li’l wrists and I prefer a tighter fit around my waist. The only other change I made was to add pockets. There’s honestly no reason for this pattern to not include a pocket piece. I added my pockets along the side seam at the bottom of the first skirt tier and top of the second skirt tier. Because of this change, I sewed my Nicks dress in a slightly different order than what the instructions showed, choosing instead to finish the front and back skirt tiers together instead of completing the skirt tier by tier.
One odd/interesting detail about this dress is that the bodice is only closed by the buttons and handmade button loops. I felt a little exposed but didn’t want to completely follow the instruction’s suggestion of sewing this part closed, so I sewed the bottom two buttons and loops together. That way, I can still play around and get a little sexy by playing with the buttons, but I don’t have to worry about any wardrobe malfunctions.
