WELCOME MELISSA FROM MAHLICADESIGNS! MELISSA IS A FELLOW COLORADOAN WITH A GREAT EYE FOR DETAIL AND A LOVELY SENSE OF HUMOR. LET’S SEE HOW SHE INTERPRETED THE COFFEE AND COCKTAILS THEME!
THE DAY AND NIGHT DRESS CHALLENGE 2018: MAHLICADESIGNS
Thank you Elizabeth for having me today for the Day and Night Dress Challenge; Coffee and Cocktails edition. I’m Melissa of mahlicadesigns.
Deciding on my Coffee Date dress was easy. I’ve been wanting to make another Shoreline Dress after loving the first one I made last summer. The dress is just so right for me in many ways. It’s easy to sew, easy to wear, and has a great shape without being too fussy.
The Pattern: Shoreline Boatneck Dress from Blank Slate Patterns in size medium. Instead of shortening the dress for my height, I actually used the longest tunic length to take advantage of the narrower sweep at the hemline and then lengthened the tunic by about 1.5in at the waist.
The Fabric: Seaglass striped rayon/lycra from Boho Fabrics (now sold out). Perhaps I’m not very original, but I loved the striped version I made last year, so I’m sticking with stripes again. I chose the rayon to see how the drape would look compared to my cotton/lycra version.
I’m totally pleased with my Coffee Date dress. Now, who’s up for a meetup to chit-chat about sewing?
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Deciding on my cocktail dress was a struggle. I worried that my choice wouldn’t be worthy of the fancy description I imagine when I think cocktail party and yet still work for my unfancy life.
After hemming and hawing, I finally just moved forward with making M7628, a pattern I’d been wanting to try for some time. I choose a Jade ponte from Stylish Fabrics to make it up. The Jade looked so rich and luxurious, that I just had to have it for my cocktail dress.
I was drawn to the pattern by the short raglan sleeves, the set in waistline, and the deep V in the back. After completing the dress though, I feel like I have a mullet dress. Fun party dress in the back and a vintagey office look in the front.
The Pattern: McCalls 7628 in size 12. I had to take in the bodice at the side seams significantly to get rid of the boxiness and help with the gaping underarm. In the end, I believe I have a size 8 bodice grading out to size 12 at the hips. I also needed to pinch out some extra fabric at the back sleeve seam to remove some gaping at the back.
The Fabric: Jade ponte from Stylish Fabrics*. The fabric is wonderful and I love sewing with ponte. Ponte is easy to sew with, is stable enough to work for a lot of projects, and has enough stretch to make those projects comfy to wear.
Overall, I just don’t know what to think of my cocktail dress. I love the back, but I have no idea how to make the front more party worthy.
Have you ever made a mullet project? What did you do to even out the split personality?
*Many thanks to Stylish Fabrics for providing the Jade ponte for my cocktail dress.
STYLISH FABRIC IS OFFERING 25% OFF OF THE JADE PONTE TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN MAKING THEIR OWN PROJECT INSPIRED BY MELISSA. JUST TYPE IN THE CODE: “MELISSA” TO APPLY THE CODE TO YOUR ORDER AT STYLISH FABRIC.
KEEP WATCHING HERE ON ELIZABETH MADE THIS AND ON YOUTUBE BETWEEN NOW AND FEBRUARY 28TH FOR MORE AMAZING DRESSES FROM THIS WONDERFUL GLOBAL CREW OF SEWING BLOGGERS AND VLOGGERS I’VE ASSEMBLED!
WANT TO JOIN IN THE FUN YOURSELF?
HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE DAY AND NIGHT DRESS CHALLENGE?
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- Sew some dresses!
- Let other people know about it. Use #dayandnightdresschallenge on Twitter and Instagram and follow the Day and Night Dress Challenge Facebook group.
- Keep reading here to find out the latest. Follow Elizabeth Made This on Instagram andFacebook.
- Post a picture of your day look (coffee) and your night look (cocktail) to Instagram to enter yourself. Don’t forget to tag me @elizabethmadethis and use the #dayandnightdresschallenge.
- Grab a graphic and post it on your site and/or repost on Instagram:
