My Fringe Dress - Chalk and Notch
One of my goals for 2022 is to make more indie patterns. There are some really good ones out there and I have been avoiding them for some time. Mostly because after being spoiled with spending $2 to $6 for a printed tissue pattern its a little bit of a sticker shock to pay $10 to $18 for a pdf pattern and then have to print it, glue it all together and then cut it to size…. JUST so I can start sewing. Needless to say, I have been avoiding them.
I got the Fringe dress as a free download for testing out the Joy Jacket Pattern from Chalk and Notch. I have to say I have been quite impressed with their patterns and I must say, the Fringe Dress is quite the clever pattern. Its perfect for a confident beginner, and if you don’t have a serger aka. overlocker its absolutely perfect.
I initially cut a size 20 and worked on view A the dress. However, based on the finished garment measurements recommendations after making the dress I realized it was a bit too long and a tad too large on me. Chalk and Notch patterns are drafted for a person who is 5’-7” and I’m 5’-5” so… I had to take some length off the bodice. But looking at my first dress I couldn’t quite figure it out until I sent a picture to an instagram friend and together we figured out what needed to change. Overall I LOVED the Fringe Dress and I will make it again, most likely in a linen.
But my first go around using the fabric I selected was very frustrating. I purchased the fabric from Melanated Fabrics about 8 months ago. They were kind enough to send me swatches of two fabrics and I loved this one. It is now sold out, but available at Fabrics.com in a Teal Blue and the manufacturer Telio describes it as a 100% Polyester fabric. It’s soft, has a beautiful drape which was what sealed the deal on me getting it, the color is gorgeous… and that’s were all the happiness about this fabric ends! It frayed like crazy. Let me say that again. I blinked. Boom! It frayed! I couldn’t get a crisp seam after I pressed it (which drove me absolutely bananas!) and the worst offending part about this fabric…. it went off grain the moment I moved it after cutting it. So if you see some extra gray hairs on my video about the Chalk and Notch dress it was because of my fabric choice.
The Fringe Dress - Chalk & Notch
With all that being said, the Fringe Dress is what I like to call a clever pattern… I’ve seen a few others but only a handful of patterns that I can say “oh that’s good design right there”. The seams for the facing and sleeves are “encased” so you don’t see them. That is pretty nice if you don’t have a serger!
Now that I knew how to deal with the diva fabric I made some changes. I cut a size 18 for the bodice, I also took out 1/2” from the length of the bodice and the back pattern pieces along with the facing pieces. I eliminated the tab pieces for the sleeve because I picked the shorter sleeves and this fabric was not playing ball when it came time to turn over the tabs, so those had to go. There is also a tie for the dress, yeah that wasn’t going to happen either with this fabric so that had to be vetoed too.
I initially didn’t interface the area where the facings would be sewn in, but after realizing that my fabric was going to stretch by just looking at it and stay stitching, I decided that maybe, MAYBE after all I was going to add that interfacing in there after all. I also decided to cut on my gathers for the skirt pieces considerably and I cut a size 14 for the skirt, which helped a lot. I used French seams for the skirt pieces since I couldn’t get a crisp seam and the fabric frayed so much I had to encase these seams too.
I’m much happier with the end result and the dress is beautiful. I will be wearing it come summer with a pair of sandals.
Even as the fabric was challenging some times you have to cut each piece one by one and that’s what I had to do with this fabric. So if you love the blue that I linked above buyers beware… this fabric is an absolute diva but in the end it’s worth it. I’m glad I got it, challenging fabrics only make you better.
