I've been a blogger for a long time. I've always wanted to keep the "aesthetic" of my platform purely about sewing and only sewing. I hardly even talk about my own family UNLESS it's sewing-related. I haven't discussed anything political since Barack Obama was elected, because that was just monumental and my ancestors' wildest dream. I had to shout about it from the rafters. The only time I've "acted up" was when a troll needed to be dealt with swiftly. I'm always going to advocate for myself. There's no taking the high road when you're being openly disrespected. You have to let them know... train people how to treat you. I've witnessed a lot of things happening in the 15 years that I've been taking up real estate on this little corner of Al Gore's internet. A lot of unrest... a lot of unfair treatment of disenfranchised folks. And I kept it strictly about sewing, even when I've noticed systemic racism and implicit/unconscious bias within our sewing community, because my sewing has always been my peace.

I love tie-front dresses. Every time I see a pattern with that detail, I'm drawn to it. You can see other garments with tie-front details here.

I was inspired by this style of dress from the fabulous designer Johanna Ortiz. She creates a lot of tie-front styles in bold, audacious prints.

McCall's 8084 really fit the bill. Well... kinda sorta. You know I had to make a few modifications to make it more "me".

I cut the pattern out in a size 14. I knew I would need to add about an inch of length and make a one inch FBA.

This pattern is the Sia Dress from Taree Marsh and I absolutely love it. 

I was drawn to this dress because the silhouette reminds me of McCall's 7974. But there are enough differences to justify me making this.

I cut the size 14. Her pattern has quite a bit of ease and I probably could have cut the size 12. She uses 3/8" seam allowances, except for the center back zipper installation which is 5/8"... so I just went back and stitched everything using a 5/8" and pulled the center back in a little more.

The bodice is generously drafted, so I didn't need to do a FBA. But in case you need to make a bust adjustment, she has great instructions for it. 

Her pattern is drafted for a height of 5'8", so I only needed an inch of length and I made my normal swayback adjustment.

The dress has two sleeve options, I chose the one with the sleeve ties and two to lengths. I love the midi. And it has pockets, of course!

The bodice is cut extremely low. It's open to the midriff. I closed mine up several inches so that it would still show some cleavage, but be bra-friendly.

The dress has a faux placket. You can add buttons, but I decided to leave them off. And it also has side slits.

Fabric: White Tencel Twill from Mood Fabrics.com

How have you all been? Are you kinda sorta adjusting to our present "normal"? I'm just trying to make the best out of an unprecedented situation. For the last month, I feel like I've been just mechanically going through the motions of daily life. I'd had this dress on the cutting table since early March, and I realized I wasn't getting anywhere in my sewing. Then I realized that I was actually sad and depressed. I was reading and consuming way too much COVID-19 information. I've had to stop watching the news and abstain from keeping the Alabama Department of Public Health's website open on my desktop. The infected numbers update in real time. As horrible as it is to just sit and watch it, I was obsessed. Earlier in the week, I decided no more. I turned on season 3 of Ozark on Netflix, and finished this dress. Wendy Byrde definitely kept my mind occupied.

I decided to post this just in time for #VirtualFrocktails on Instagram, hence the delicious glass of red wine! 

The dress is Vogue Patterns V1672. I'm thinking that this is "my silhouette" going forward.

My fabric is Mustard Tencel Twill from Mood Fabrics. It's absolutely gorgeous... the drape and the color are both magnificent. The back bodice pieces are cut on the bias. This fabric cuts like a silky, so I would strongly advise that you cut bias pieces on a single layer. And make sure that you straighten the grain on this fabric first.

I cut a size 14. I made a FBA, and I still needed to tack the fronts. 

I lined the bodice only. And the pattern instructs you to bind the armholes.

The reason I didn't line the skirt is that I added a front inseam slit and the fabric has a nice medium weight hand. I feel that it holds its on without a lining.

I made one inch swayback adjustment and for the skirt, I made a 1.5" full seat adjustment so that the back of the skirt hem wouldn't hike up.

As with any full skirt, you must allow your garment to hang for at least 24 hours for it to grow so that you can level your hem. I used a very narrow hem so I wouldn't have to do any easing.

I love this dress because it works with heels and it'll also work when we're free to move about the world, I can throw on flat sandals this summer. Hopefully, by the time summer arrives, we will be pass all of this and we'll be able to take our me-made garments out into the wild again.

I'm 6 months shy of my 50th birthday. So, health and fitness (both physical and mental) are number 1 on my list of priorities. Because without good health, nothing else matters to me. In an effort to keep motivating myself to make it to the gym at least 4 times a week, I'm adding new and cute workout clothes to my closet!

As a Baby Lock Sewing Brand Ambassador, I received the Baby Lock Victory Serger. I've been challenging myself to find different ways to use it. And one of my favorite things to do is to make activewear!

I was inspired to make workout clothes from the Sew Your View Monthly Challenge on Instagram.

They used McCall's 7261. I didn't have that one in my pattern collection. But I do have McCall's 6404 (out-of-print), which is basically the same draft. I just widened the waistband.

I made this pattern a few years ago... it was prior to a full seat adjustment being one of my standard pattern adjustments. I just made the workout tights and when I tried them on -- big problem. 

They were hella dipping at the center back. So, I just added a "yoke" to fill in that space between the back and the waistband.

I cut the size large. But I ended up taking about 3" off of each side so that they'd actually look like workout tights with the negative ease.

For the navy blue pair, I used Navy Perfotek Compression Jersey and Navy Stretch Polyester Power Mesh. The navy is currently out of stock, but this is one of Mood Fabrics reorderable fabrics... and they have other great colors as well. It's not rough or scratchy... it's very soft with excellent stretch. And let me tell you just how soft that Perfotek Compression Jersey is! It feels amazing against the skin.

And for the creating, I used a 2-Thread Flatlock Wide Stitch. This stitch is known as a "natural flatlock" and on the Baby Lock Victory Serger, it didn't require any tension adjustment. I made the wide stitch. This is done by using only one needle in the left position. The thread for this needle is passed through the top thread guide that is normally used for the upper looper (3rd from the left) and down the front and threading the needle normally. 

To create a 2-thread flatlock stitch, the eye of the upper looper needs to be blocked to form this stitch. On some machines, you have to add an attachment to the looper. On the Victory, it has what's called a "subsidiary looper".

Here's a tutorial to show you how it's done:

Of course, I needed matching tops. I used Simplicity 8560 sports bra pattern. It has 3 different views and I made two of them. The is a great pattern because it's sized like a regular bra with band width and cup sizes. I cut the 34D.

On the printed top, it's sewn in its entirety on my Baby Lock Aventura II, using the stretch stitch. It's the one that looks like a lightning bolt. 

For this version, I used the 2-thread flatlock stitch in a decorative way. 

This one has the mesh inset with a bound finish. And Italian Navy Elastic Trimming for the band.

Not only are these pieces cute and fashionable, they're comfortable during the workout. 

Nothing rides up. I highly recommend both of them if you're looking to combine high performance with high style!