I have literally been living in this dress this summer! When I wrote a tutorial on adding a drop shirt-tail hemline to the Staple Dress pattern earlier this year, I mentioned I had made a wearable muslin, and is it ever wearable. I picked up this rayon at my local Fabricland in the spring for about $6/metre, if I remember right. It’s very soft and drapes beautifully – making it perfect for the Staple Dress – and also a real pain to sew!
I seem to like prints with an obvious graphic repeat, and then I get home and have to sort out how to match up the side seams and keep everything straight at the same time. I’ve had a LOT of practice over the last few years! This fabric was one of the worst I have sewn with. It was a dream on the machine – but cutting the pieces was a nightmare. I had to straighten the lines in the fabric by holding my quilting ruler in a straight line and incrementally moving the fabric until it lay straight. Then I had to hold my breath while I placed the pattern on top and cut it out. Thankfully it all worked out well in the end.
I’ve already mentioned that the floaty nature of the fabric was hard to work with, but I would still highly recommend that a slightly thicker rayon is the ideal fabric for this style of dress. It really needs to drape well or it will look very boxy. A good quality rayon would also be much easier to lay out, and wouldn’t cause the trouble I put up with for this particular low quality (but gorgeous!) fabric. I’ve seen many complaints about the Staple Dress pattern on countless blogs. Most of these mention using (non-draping) quilting cotton to sew their garment. I wonder if it is a coincidence? I do have to say, though, in quilting cotton’s defense – that the Art Gallery fabrics are great for this pattern. They still do not drape as much as the rayon, but they drape enough to make a great dress. And think of all of the amazing collections you can choose from!
We took these photos in old Quebec City while we were on vacation. I wish I could go back – it was an amazing trip, and had so many great places to take photos! I got a little photo-bombed by my girls in this shot. It was the day that we also photographed the Add-a-Bow tutorial and the Flutter Sleeve Tunic. I love that all of us were wearing handmade, and that our vacation shots are going to preserve them forever. I’m sure, though, that one day we will look back at our vacation photos and my kids will wonder why I ever “let them” wear these outfits in public!
Our Material Girls Sewcial is tonight, and funny enough, I’m going to wear this dress. Which reminded me that I should post these photos before we run out of summer. It would be a little crazy to post a summer dress in the middle of winter, I think. I’ve got a collection of at least 4 photographed summer projects + the end of school teacher gifts I didn’t blog about yet. I should really get on that! Or, maybe I should wait until next May to post those… hmm…
Reader Feedback: Have you sewn a Staple Dress? How did yours turn out?
Wearable indeed! I picked up a bundle just for this dress- and proceed to forget all about it. You’ve inspired me to dig through my stash for fabric. I agree from what I’ve seen the dress really does need something with drape.
Oh – you should go do it now Rachel! It’s so comfortable – and you’ll need to make it before summer disappears!
Love it! I went back to get some of that same fabric but only found a small piece in the remnant bin. Might be enough to make a top with it; I love the print 🙂
Nice Laura! I’m sure you can pull it off 🙂
I haven’t made this dress. But looks great on you. The color of the fabric suits you ;).
Thanks Mirjam! I think I’m going to have to make some more 🙂
Very cute dress! (and so are the little ones) :o)
Thanks Kathleen! Handmade is so much fun 🙂
That dress is fantastic! And it looks wonderful on you. You did a great job in beating that rayon into submission. 😎 I love the look of matching print, especially going around like that. You and the ladies look like a bouquet of flowers, gathered together like that. I’m glad the trip was such a success. Old Quebec looks fascinating.
xo Linda
Thanks Linda – it really was beat… argh! If you get a chance to visit Quebec it’s beautiful!
Wonderful!!! 🙂
Thanks so much Melania!
This dress looks great! I love the colour and pattern! I have made this and used a quilting cotton (Foxtrot Shade in the green colourway by Tula Pink). It doesn’t have prefect drape but after scouring Fabricland twice for the prefect fabric for this dress with no luck, I came across this one online and went for it! I wore it to 2 weddings this summer and was quite comfy. I would love to try it in something with more drape next time though.
Oh wow! I love the Foxtrot Shade in green. That would be amazing Ashley!
I love this fabric! The colour is fantastic, suits you really well. 🙂
Thanks so much Timea! 🙂