handmade wardrobe // Witchy Vibes, mommy and me with Measure fabrics

my dress: McCalls 7946 in a tiny dot silk/cotton twill from Measure Fabrics

Penny’s jumpsuit: Hello Dear Kids harem jumpsuit, in same fabric

my shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Penny’s hair bows: June and January

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Seriously feeling these October witchy vibes in this look.

When I received this fabric from Measure Fabrics, I knew it had to made up into a special dress. It’s a twill, but a light weight and super soft twill. And a silk blend- so special! It drapes beautifully, but isn’t so lightweight that its sheer, I really didn’t need a lining at all. Seriously, I don’t know how else to describe the feel and drape of this fabric, it’s such a dream! One if those magic fabrics that could be made into almost anything - a special evening dress, a fun jumpsuit or floaty wide legs, a pretty blouse, etc. But my favorite part of the fabric? That itty bitty dot print. I love small details in fabric. And from far away this may look like a sold black or dark grey, but then you get up close and see those little polka dots, and UGH, so cute.

So like I said, I really wanted this to be an October witchy-feeling dress. I ended up going with a pattern that I have used once before. I made another version back in June, a sleeveless one. To be more fall appropriate, I sewed up the sleeved version this time around and OMG THAT SQUARE NECKLINE IS EVERYTHING. I want all my necklines to be this shape. It’s seriously so perfect. And it’s also a pretty easy pattern. It looks detailed and possibly complicated, but its not. The casing and elastic is a bit time consuming, but super simple and beginner friendly. Especially if you use store-bought bias tape like I did- hand made bias tape would take the difficulty (and yardage amount) up a notch), so be aware of that if you want to make one yourself! But I just feel like the combination of this fabric and silhouette couldn’t be a more perfect match.

I debated what to do with the leftover yardage for P’s outfit. I originally was thinking a dress for her too. But as the weather gets colder, there is no denying that she’ll get more wear out of pants. I actually have made her one of these jumpsuits before, too, so I knew it would be perfect for her. I love how the little ruffle detail along the top edge matches the little ruffle detail of the bottom half of my dress. What do you think? Is her a jumpsuit a good match to my dress, or would you have gone with a dress for her too?

handmade wardrobe // calvin the beautiful

dress: True Bias Calvin wrap dress in a lightweight silk jacquard c/o Measure Fabric

top: Megan Nielsen Patterns Rowan bodysuit

booties: Target

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Soooooooo I just made my dream dress. And its the Calvin wrap dress. Which is funny, becasuse I would usually shy away from a style like this. Lower v-cut, thin straps, wrap styles usually hang funny on my non-existent bust. But with a few adjustments, it’s seriously my new favorite make. As I do with all of makes with bust darts, I removed the darts completely. Bust darts are just unnecessary when you have no boobs haha. I also lowered the button hole and thread chain locations at the side seams down by 1”. I think this was necessary due to my long torso and, again, no bust. If I would I kept the locations as-is and had the top wrap there, the wrap-top section would have sagged. Now it lays perfectly flat across my chest!

This fabric you guuuuuuuuuuys. Its silk. I don’t usually go for luxurious fabrics, but I just couldn’t resist this one. The print! The subtle dot texture when you get up close! The silky feel! It’s all so good. And also probably the reason why There is only a few yards left - I wasn’t the only one that fell in love with it! Sorry hurry up and snag some before it’s gone. But Measure Fabric does have some other really pretty silks, so you should check them all out, toot. Working with the silk really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, it was a bit slippery. But with plenty of (silk) pins and a little patience, it really went pretty smoothly. I feel like this type of silhouette is just perfect for a dreamy, silky fabric. So it’s worth it.

Also, I should mention - the bias binding is from Imagine Gnats, and is the perfect match. I order both this peachy pink, as well as a blue one that matched really well. While the blue maybe would have been a more obvious choice, I fell in love with the way the pink looked from the moment I put it next to the fabric. Even though its a light color and it does match part of the print, It seemed like the perfect contrast. I’m still so happy with this choice!

I debated whether to style the dress for these photos like this with the rowan bodysuit and booties, or just the dress alone with simple heels. Like I said, I am actually surprisingly comfortable wearing the dress alone and it looks really good! And the weather here is still warm enough later in the day to be able to wear it. But I also know most people are already in fall mode, so I figured it was a good idea to show a layering option with this silhouette/pattern!

handmade wardrobe // in bloom

my skirt: self drafted

Penny’s overalls: Hello Dear Kids ruffle overalls

fabric: floral cotton sateen c/o Measure Fabrics

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Have you noticed that all of my projects with Measure have been pink. I obviously have a favorite color, haha. But I just couldn’t resist this pretty pink floral sateen. I actually struggled a bit with this one. Not because I didn’t know what to make with it, but because I had so many ideas of what to do with it that I just couldn’t choose. I thought about making a romper for myself, or maybe a pretty full-skirt structured dress, or maybe a shorts and top matching set, etc. But in the end, I kept coming back to the simplest of all my ideas- a simple and basic paperbag waist skirt. It was my first original idea, and I just kept coming back to it. I think I kept trying to change my mind to one of the other ideas because a basic elastic skirt seemed, well….. too basic. But sometimes basic is sooooo good. Especially when using the perfect fabric. The print really makes the simple shape shine!

But lets face it - it didn’t matter what I made for myself, because Penny’s overalls are the real star of the show anyway. I mean, those ruffles, those little pockets, the cuteness. All the heart eyes.

But seriously - get this fabric! It is seriously the most perfect fabric for so many projects. Cotton sateen has a nice medium weight and it completely opaque. No need for a lining, so its perfect for bottoms like pants, shorts, skirts, jumpsuits, etc. But would also make a really pretty voluminous dress or even button down shirt. Options are endless with this one.

Handmade Wardrobe // Rosebud Ruffles

Both dresses : mashed up/self drafted

fabric: rosebud cotton poplin from Measure Fabric

Penny’s sunglasses:  Mini Made Co

Penny’s sneakers: June and January

my purse: thrifted Free People

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i am so so so soooo in love with how these dresses turned out! 

I have actually had this idea for this squared neck ruffle dress in my head for YEARS. literally years. I think I saved an inspiration photo in 2016. I don’t know why I waited so long to make it happen, but I’m glad I did wait for this fabric. When I first laid eyes on this little mini rosebud print from Measure Fabric, I immediately started thinking of this dress again. It just couldn’t be more perfect! It’s a cotton poplin, so more of a shirting fabric. It is a little bit translucent in direct light, so I lined the whole thing. 

As far as the pattern, I started with the Tessuti Fabrics Romy top just to get a starting point for the shape of the top (but altered it a bit) and then kind of just self drafted the rest. And then I kind of just eyed/self drafted Penny’s mini version. I was a little worried just winging all of it, but it was actually pretty simple and came out just as I was imagining! 

Penny thinks the little rosebuds are strawberries and keeps calling them our strawberry dresses 😂.