A Nova with Short Sleeves

Originally I had an idea to make the Style Arc Nova but adding a "Bridgerton" slant to it.  I wanted a small piping at a deepened neckline with puffy short sleeves. As you can see below that DID NOT happen!

Instead I got a dress with a deeper neckline without binding and sleeves that were added but with much trial and tribulation.  See this was the first make after not having sewn in almost a full year. I was still finding my footing. I made a new pattern piece for the front adding to the shoulder width for the short sleeve. However, I DID NOT do the same to the back pieces.  Can we say drama?

I figured it out and got a sleeve on the dress but it's not a process I will share...because too messy and I would never do that again.  Also because IF I make this dress again, I would do it differently.

Here are the materials:

4 yards of a black floral & polka dot cotton lawn purchased in July from Mood Fabrics online

1 yard of 5/8" wide elastic

I made this dress during the July heatwave here on the East Coast. I wanted this to take with me to Chicago and luckily my daughter took some pictures while we were at Millenium Park. I have no construction information to share with this dress.  The tiers were sewn using the Style Arc instructions. It was just the bodice I deviated from the pattern. Good thing, it did work out so...

A Few Photos...

I loved the flow of this dress when seated.  

Probably why there's 2 photos of it that way!

I'm happy I made it even with it's challenges.  It's a comfortable, flowy dress to wear in the summer heat. Will I make another Nova next summer?  Who knows.  But I do love the pattern!

...as always more later!

The Sunflower Dress

This pattern was featured in one of Closet Core's weekly emails. Now I'm not that enthralled with 70s styles since I lived it as a skinny teenager. A teenager who also sewed so I made quite a few patterns from that era.  However, this one hit me a little differently now.

Probably because I saw it as a cross between the Style Arc Hope that I recently made. So I would use that bodice. Then using the Style Arc Nova tiers for the dress' skirt. Once it became a must make, I went looking for a piece of fabric from the collection.  Of course, I had the perfect one...this crepe-like linen blend purchased from Mood in April 2023.

I used the Hope bodice with the tie neckline and the huge sleeves from my second Hope.  

My only other change was to add a fourth tier to the skirt bottom to emulate the tiers of the inspiration dress. I did this by using the pattern's first tier pattern piece. I cut 3" off the width to make it slightly shorter than the second tier.  I wanted to add a tier but not a lot of volume near the top of the dress.  If you've ever made the Nova, you know those tiers hold a lot of fabric giving it a lot of volume.  

Please note: 

1. While I added another tier it did not have any gathers because I added the second tier exactly like the first tier. If I was to make this again, I would add a little more length to those pieces to give it a more gathered effect.

2. By adding four tiers the dress was extra long. I needed to remove 2" from the hem before I sewed a 1.5" wide hem.

The neckline ties were cut almost double the original length. One to match the inspiration photo and two because I felt the ties from my Rifle & Co Hope were too short. I also used the same construction technique as my last one to apply the neck tie. Except for the Tetris I did to cut out the tiers (cause again this pattern requires ALOT of fabric) there were no more alterations.

Here's the dress.  Did I get a good copy?

These photos were taken while I was on vacation in Chicago.  I spent the day with Carol and Cennetta fabric shopping. They took me to The Textile Warehouse - 3 floors of fabric in an un-air conditioned space! But I found some amazing pieces that will be sewn sooner rather than later. Our next stop was Rainbow Fabrics. We ended up at Joann's for the Simplicity pattern sale. Those adventures will be a separate blog post.  However, Cennetta was kind enough to take a few photos for me to share here! 

I'm loving this combination and convincing myself that I don't need a second version cause assembling those tiers are not for the weak hearted. Seriously!!!

The supplies used:

5 yards of a crepe linen blend 

2 yards of 3/4" elastic

...as always more later!

Style Arc Nova Dress

I wanted to try another tiered dress for Summer 2021 but this dress got pushed to Spring 2022.  I mean I own a bunch of Mysotis dresses and I wanted to use another pattern for a different style dress to add to my wardrobe. That's how my interest was piqued by this tiered dress. I know I've been sewing more Style Arc patterns lately but they have expanded their sizing and the designs fit my lifestyle. Casual with a fashion flair...

Last year I carted it to Sew Camp but didn't work on it. I thought I would have completed it by summer's end. However, by late September I realized it wasn't happening, so I set it aside.

Hello Summer 2022...

Supplies ~

4 yards of printed cotton from fabric dot com (purchased January 2021)

14" white invisible zipper

Gingham bias binding purchased during Sew Camp 2021

Pattern & Design Changes ~

This pattern is a slip-on dress that has a double fabric bodice and no closure. However, I did a few things differently...  

1.  I scooped the front and back neckline a little deeper on the pattern.

2.  I added a 14" invisible zipper to make it easier to get into the dress.  The back bodice piece was changed by omitting the cut on fold the pattern suggests. A 1/2" back seam allowance was added so I could insert the zipper.

3.  The double bodice was eliminated and I finished the neckline and armholes with some cotton gingham bias binding from the collection.

4.  The lower tier was lengthened by 4" to make it maxi length. I would add another 2" to this tier for the next version.

Those are all the changes I made.

A Few Photos ~

This is a simple sew and an easy to wear loose-fitting dress. The only thing to note is if you don't want to do a lot of gathering this dress is NOT for you. I don't mind gathering and even I had to take my time when doing it. It got a little tedious.

By the way, how do you gather?  For small sections of fabric to be gathered, I use the two stitching lines. However, when I'm gathering swaths of fabric like this, I zig zag over waxed dental floss. Waxed dental floss because it makes it easier to pull it through the zig zag tunnel and it doesn't break. The one thing you don't want is it breaking halfway through the gathering. Also why I don't use stitched lines. I've had the thread break on me and it ain't pretty!

THIS is the perfect summer dress.  As I wore it to take pictures, I thought I need another one or two of these in some of the pretty challis prints I own. So hopefully that will happen this summer. I just don't know because I have a pretty robust sewing list and another five garments in my cut pile.

...as always more later!

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