Skip to main content

Sew Long Summer: Do You Have Orange Confidence?

First sign of fall at my house is the Maple tree out front. As August fades the tips of the leaves to go pink. Before you know it, it's already time for the Sew Long Summer Blog tour!
This year, I took a recent favorite of mine, the Kosice Top & Dress from Itch to Stitch Designs, combined it with a bold orange fabric and made a dress that is undeniably fall.

The Fabric

For my dress, I used this intense orange floral from Simply By Ti fabrics. I've had my eye on it since it came to the shop, but when it was discounted to $5/yard during the April Birthday Sale, I snapped up 3 yards.
This poplin really is the perfect shirting. It's a nice weight: not light and flimsy, but not heavy at all. It's completely opaque. It sews well, presses cleanly and didn't give me any issues with fraying. The best part is that because it is 97%/3% cotton/lycra, it's totally stable and suitable for all woven shirting projects, but still has a little give to make movement comfortable.

The Pattern

I blogged all about the Kosice Top pattern not too long ago when it was released. If you want to see my review of the pattern, you can check it out HERE.
3/4 sleeves are my favorite for cool and cold weather. Kosice comes with short sleeves, but hacking the pattern to get what I want was very easy. Here's what I did:
Yeah, I know. A glimpse inside my head doesn't actually make much sense, does it? I'll break it down for you.
  1. I measured how much length I wanted to add to the sleeve so that it would hit where I wanted.
  2. I measured the circumference of my arm where the short sleeve of Kosice hits (13 inches) and the width of the pattern piece, minus seam allowances (17.25 inches).
  3. I calculated the % difference between the two to be approx 75%.
  4. I measured the circumference of my arm where I wanted the 3/4 sleeve to hit (9.5 inches).
  5. Did a little math and figured out that 9.5 is 75% of 12 3/8 inches...approximately.
  6. Add the seam allowance back in so the total width at the bottom of my new sleeve should be 13 5/8 inches.
  7. Trace off the short sleeve pattern, add the length and new width at the bottom, tapering the sides in evenly to meet the new measurements.
Did I lose you? Sorry about the math on a Monday. What's important is that in the end, my new sleeve is just what I wanted!

Final Look

Tell you what, lets just get to pretty pictures and forget all about Algebra.
 
At first I thought for sure I would want to wear it with this thin brown belt. Then I got a look at the pictures, and it was clear that it wasn't quite right. 
I switched it out for the self-fabric tie and think it's much better. 
 
Even thought I'm drawn to the beauty of bold color and print, I'm scared to wear it. I feel very conspicuous. There's no hiding or fading into the crowd. I confess that will I need to work up the nerve to wear my orange dress in public.
I know my dress is lovely and well made, but I feel more comfortable hiding behind my olive jacket.
 

What about you, do YOU have Orange Confidence?
Leave me a note in the comments and tell me how you feel in bold, intense color!

    
We're kicking off the Sew Long Summer blog tour this week. We have some really fun and inspiring creations for you again this year. The full tour includes these talented sewists, so I hope you'll follow along and comment on their posts this week!

  Sept. 9th 
  Sept. 10th 
Sept. 11th 
  Sept. 12th 
Sept. 13th 
Labels:

Comments

  1. melissa e of mahlicadesignsSeptember 9, 2019 at 6:19 PM

    I don't own a single orange thing. Scratch that, I just made a muted orange tee. Ok you get the drift. Anyway, WEAR IT! The dress is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BruneSeptember 9, 2019 at 11:28 PM

    Nice work! And this is a darker orange, close to tomato red, totally wearable in public ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michelle SchuhSeptember 10, 2019 at 9:12 PM

    Love the dress, what a perfect fall colour!

    ReplyDelete
  4. gizmogirlSeptember 10, 2019 at 11:56 PM

    You look so fabulous in it! And the sleeves really are perfect! I hope you wear the crap out of it!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jennie LindstromSeptember 11, 2019 at 6:24 PM

    You have to wear this dress everywhere, because you look amazing! I laughed a bit at your picture of the pattern piece with all your notes... that is exactly what my pattern pieces look like!

    ReplyDelete
  6. TheCraftingFiendSeptember 13, 2019 at 11:07 AM

    gorgeous dress and fit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. auschickSeptember 16, 2019 at 8:26 PM

    I love it with the jacket! I wonder how you'd go with a really wide belt?

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownOctober 11, 2020 at 12:01 AM

    Thank you for posting this! I searched 'Kosice long sleeve dress' - and your blog was the first result! You look lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  9. navitaAugust 8, 2024 at 7:35 AM

    "Excellent value—looks high-end without breaking the bank."

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet My New BFFF: Breaking Ground With Mountain View Pull On Jeans From Itch-To-Stitch

Finding perfect jeans is like finding a unicorn....  Do YOU have unicorn in your back yard?  Yeah. Me either. What I DO have is the newest Itch-To-Stitch Designs pattern release: Mountain View Pull On Jeans , and they are my new BFFF! They MIGHT even be unicorn jeans... Breaking Ground is mostly about trying new-to-you designers,  but you can also twist it to be a new-to-you technique, style or other such personal challenge.  Obviously, Itch-to-Stitch is NOT new to me, but the concept of pull on pants as everyday wear is, and it's a trend I've tried to avoid for a long time! Pull on pants are for yoga and sleeping, right? My personal rule is no lounge pants outside the house, unless I'm ACTUALLY going somewhere to exercise. (SNORT)  Wearing pull on pants or leggings as real pants (that look terrific) is how I'm Breaking Ground for myself! Pattern Details Mountain View Pull On Jeans gives you just about everything you find in a traditiona
29 comments
Read more

My Perfect Vacation Pants, The Itch-To-Stitch Sequoia Cargos

I'm back at it with the pants again! Itch-To-Stitch has a new pattern this week: Sequoia Cargos & Shorts . It's still winter here, so I'm sharing the long pants option today. I'm taking a long weekend trip this March, and I need to start sewing a vacation capsule to pack. For the last 15 years or so, my friend has taken a casino bus trip with a few dozen of her teaching colleages. A few years back, her husband decided he no longer wanted to go, and I've volunteered to be her Plus One for the third year in a row. We will be getting on a bus super early on a Saturday and driving 6 hours or so over the Mackinac Bridge to the U.P. The ride up is filled with chatter and drinking and games, and we all have loads of fun. Then the next two days are filled with more food & drink, card games & slots. I'm not much of a gambler; I'd rather spend my dollars on a Pina Colada than a pull of the slot handle, but I find plenty of ways to enjoy myself. N
16 comments
Read more

When A Pattern Test Goes Pear Shaped: Saving My ITS Danube Jean Skirt

Every now and then, I have a project where every decision I make is wrong, and I have to battle tooth & nail to get to the end. Itch-To-Stitch recently released the Danube Jean Skirt . I love everything about the design of this skirt: slim fitting, DENIM, wind friendly, go-with-everything casual, sits at the natural waist, side slits for something fun and less formal. I was very excited to jump into the testing phase. I had a couple heavier non stretch twill fabrics in my stash suitable for muslins... and exactly 1 piece of non stretch denim which I earmarked for my final skirt. In The Beginning The first muslin revealed the need for some fine tuning, something that should be expected during the testing phase. V2 for the pattern was distributed and my second muslin came together quickly. I got exactly what I expected. A pretty well-fitting skirt except for my prominent full seat which was pulling all my fabric out of whack. No big deal, right? I've had this issue for
8 comments
Read more