Made by a Fabricista: Sewing a Maxi Dress: More Time, More Space, More Reward

My latest posts often mention time and space restraints. Indeed, sewing is a rather time-consuming activity that requires generous amounts of floor space, counter space, tablespace, and any other surface available. Despite everything, I was so glad to finally embark on a journey to sew myself a maxi dress. I know most readers have a strong sewing background and appreciate the effort required in a project like this. Still, I had fun keeping a mental score of all the steps to get this done, and what they mean outside of a sewist’s bubble. It is easy to underestimate the time and material needed to get a maxi dress like this done!

Whenever I see someone wearing one on the street, I think: “That’s so beautiful, I should make one!” So, when this fabulous rayon showed up in Fabric Mart, I knew the moment had come. I chose the Elodie Wrap Dress by Closet Core Patterns because of its flowy and voluminous look and the dolman sleeves that are so comfortable to wear. The fabric itself is wonderful in person. The pictures on the website were excellent, but the color has a brightness that’s not easy to capture! Amaranth is actually a reddish-pink shade, and it will very quickly become my favorite color to wear from now on! This rayon is buttery, soft, thin, and light, which makes it perfect for a flowy dress like this.

The first surprising observation is that making a dress like this requires 5.5 yards of fabric. With such a length of fabric, you can practically cover two six-foot tables or two king-size beds. I folded that length in half on my living room floor and cut the pattern right there. Then, I folded all these pieces (pinned to their corresponding pattern paper) to fit into a folder-sized packing cube, because I planned to sew it at my parent’s! Timewise, it took a full Disney movie to get it all cut and stored without having tiny feet dangerously stampeding over my project.

Then came the next surprise: the preparation phase of this project took longer than expected. I had to carefully iron the creases out from the pieces, put interface on some pieces, and finally baste all the biased edges to protect them from stretching. All this gave my daughter enough time to go out to the park with her grandmother and grocery shopping with her grandfather, and even have a long nap.

Then came the actual sewing and assembling of the dress, which at no surprise took the longest. Over three days, my toddler had time to watch Moana thrice, take some extra-long naps, learn to draw on a piece of paper and go to the park a few times. In other words, it was a laborious process! Since I didn’t have my serger on hand, I planned to finish my seams with simple zig-zags. But I was already so invested in my project and had some grandparent elves to help with the little one, so I went all-in and did French seams on the skirt. I followed all the precautions to avoid rippled hems but still got some imperfections. Luckily, the flowered pattern on the fabric helps to hide them!

I had a blast with the whole process and will proudly wear this beautiful, romantic, and bright dress at my upcoming wedding anniversary (hubby, I know you read this, so please take me somewhere that fits with this dress!).

To end with some grateful notes as usual, this time my thanks go to my parents, who gave me the physical and mental space to complete this project! And of course, Mami, I would be proud if you wished to borrow my dress any day: you will look stunning in it!

INES | @bynunis

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Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: CHALLIS.