The secret dress challenge!

17th September 2021

The bloggers are back with a dress challenge!

This time the lovely ladies have made a dress of their choice, using any fabric from our collection! There was just one rule….

Michelle – @sewing.bunny

When the ladies at Felicity Fabrics said that they wanted to do another blogger challenge I was super excited to get stuck into another project. I really liked the fact we could make a dress of our choice and so I decided that the pattern I would use would be the Seamwork Bobby dress which I had only recently discovered and was really wanting to sew!

It is a dress pattern for jersey fabrics and I remember I had spotted this beautiful ‘butterfly haven’ jersey on the Felicity Fabrics website. I thought that the soft sage green and subtitle pastel colour butterfly’s was just perfect for the look I was going for! The pattern features a lined V neck bodice and wide elastic at the waist, just perfect for a super comfortable yet super stylish dress. I love how it looks teamed up with or without a belt and I also think it will be a great transitional garment from summer to autumn as I think it would look really cute with a cream turtle neck sitting underneath for when it gets a bit chilly.

The twist of this challenge was to add a little ribbon label to our garments but not to sew it into the typical position of the inside centre back neckline. I got my creative cap on and had the idea to add it to the inside my left pocket. I thought it was a fun placement and I love that I can see the ‘handmade’ text popping out at me every time I use the pocket.

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Carol – @chatterstitch

I love taking part in Felicity fabrics multi make blogs, its such great fun as all of the bloggers keep our projects a secret. This is sooo different from our normal chatty relationship!

This time we were gifted any fabric and the only restriction was we had to make a dress and we had to use the little ribbon label (but not in the centre back!)

So I chose to make a straight version of the Nina Lee, Kew dress (from the extension pack) which suited the Jude denim perfectly. The Jude has a great fibre composition for this, being 2% Elastane, it has just that touch of stretch (allows room for cake) and at 270gms the weight is heavy enough to be a good structure but light enough to be fluid and forgiving. I styled it for my pics with a little T-shirt under, but it will be great in the summer just as a strappy dress and just fabulous with boots and a sweater in the winter!!

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Ellie – @what_ellie_sews

Years ago, I picked up a beautiful dress from a vintage emporium. It was a lined broderie anglaise shirtdress – knee-length and sleeveless. I loved this dress, but it was always a touch too small and short, and I promised myself that one day I would make a new version.

This beautiful ‘Chloe’ embroidery anglaise was a near perfect match for my vintage dress, so it had to be done!

I used the Named Clothing “Helmi Blouse” as my base pattern, extended it to knee length, squared off the collar and omitted the sleeves.

I lined the dress with a lightweight cotton voile, and bound the armholes with readymade Atelier Brunette viscose bias binding for a little touch of luxury! The buttons are from Pigeon Wishes – I love the pop of colour against the white fabric.

I’m so happy to have a replacement for my beloved vintage shirtdress. I know it’s going to get so much wear!

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Cara – @sosewmad

Let me take you on an adventure, there are tigers ahead!
Imagine a world where you could choose from any of the fantastic fabrics that Felicity Fabrics sell, the only condition is that you need to make a dress. Wow, what would you choose? Which season would you prepare for? A late summer wedding, or an Autumn twirler, or perhaps you’d think further ahead to a Christmas party. So many of us haven’t worn a posh frock in years, well now maybe is the time!
So, when faced with this wonderful challenge, what did I choose, how did I choose. Plus, it was in secret from the fabulous Felicity Fabrics bloggers, all of which I call friends, I couldn’t ask them, this time I am on my own.
I love this time of year, a sense of new beginnings at the start of a school year (it’s hard to shake this feeling 20+ years on). But also the air is crisper and a sense of Autumn creeps into my thought process. Jersey is the fabric I reach for time and time again, and what a beautiful selection there is too!.
The Tiger print, burnt orange ( see, I told you there were tigers) has everything I need, colour without boldness, design with added trend and of course comfort and endless dress opportunities.
I like to try and learn new techniques with every make, and the Joy dress from Fibre Mood Magazine had a few that I was keen to undertake. In principle it is a fairly simple t-shirt dress, but the long raglan sleeves and optional front insert make it a little different to the ‘norm’; but it is the toggle waist ties that I was literally drawn too, instead of a hidden channel they make feature of it. So I set to work.
The dress came together relatively quickly, the beauty of a raglan with no tricky sleeve insertion, but also the pattern pieces are pretty much identical front and back. (Tip: make sure to notch your sleeves and bodice pieces accordingly).
The instructions, or rather the picture of the toggle threading didn’t come naturally to me, but I’m pleased with the end garment, I’ve worn it loads.
It is a different style for me, and I love that I’ve reached out in that way. The neckline is higher and the sleeves longer than other dresses I own. It is easy to dress up or down, I like pairing it with trainers and my denim jacket, but also with boots and a cardi.
All of our projects have a common factor, a wonderful ‘handmade’ label from @allsortedcreations, our only instruction was not to put the label in the centre back, so, I have popped mine on my front hem, I reckon a quick flash of ‘handmade’ will start many a conversation!

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Jayne – @thedressmakerscloset

So, for this lovely little secret sewing challenge myself and the Felicity Fabrics bloggers had to choose a fabric, sew a dress of our choice but also include a ‘handmade’ ribbon label in our garment. The only stipulation was to use our imagination and add it anywhere we wanted except the back neckline.

I chose ‘Fiona’ a floral fabric with an antique white background and the prettiest ditsy floral print of browns and blush pinks with green leaves. 100% cotton and so dreamy soft, my kind of fabric that’s for sure.

I had 2 metres to play with and immediately wanted to make an autumn/winter dress, something that I could layer with blouses and skinny rib sweaters throughout the cooler months. By adding woolly tights and chunky heeled boots I knew it would make a great outfit.

So, I decided to make one of my own creations, The Poppy Pinafore’. I used the full 2 metres by extending the skirt to maxi length. I decided that the ‘handmade’ label was too pretty to hide inside the pinafore so I stitched it on the outside to the back placket in between the wooden buttons.

I cannot wait for the autumn weather to arrive so I can wear this gorgeous pinafore.

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Rosy – @rosysewsmodernvintage

I do love a secret! Especially when I know what the secret is! Haha!
The secret dress challenge was perfect for me, as I’ve been on a dress making roll this summer and one that I’d not had a go at yet, was to hack the Hinterland into a non-button front dress. I cut the front bodice pattern piece on the fold (but folded in the button placket) and then continued to follow the normal instructions.
I am pleased with the overall look of it and its so easy to make…only took a couple of hours start to finish! I added the waist ties, but next time I think I might add a couple of darts to the waist of the bodice instead.
I sewed the little “Handmade” label onto the end of one of the waist ties, using a decorative blanket stitch. I need more practice really…the stitching is a bit rough and ready…but it was fun! And now everyone will be able to see that this dress is handmade!

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Karen – @sew.little.time

I have been really excited to be part of this dress challenge created by Felicity Fabrics and it really got me thinking about what dress I could sew that I hadn’t before. I can be a creature of habit and duplicate my sewing makes, just using different fabrics to make them look slightly different, so this time I wanted to make sure I used a pattern and pattern company that I hadn’t used before.

Earlier this year I took part in an online sewing challenge which took place on Instagram called ‘Frugal Frocks 2021’ and I made two dresses for the challenge. I was lucky enough to be one of the winners once the challenge had ended and my prize was to choose a pattern from the pattern company ‘Forget Me Not Patterns’. I chose their latest release at the time, which was the April dress.

The April dress comes with 2 different style options and an optional tie belt. They are both A-line in shape but one has a fuller silhouette with gathers in the skirt and the other is of a straighter shape. Both have grown on sleeves and feature a wavy seamline around the waist which I absolutely love. This is perfect for colour blocking too.

I knew straight away that I wanted to use a cotton fabric to make this dress and I opted to use two different colourways of the same fabric. I have sewn with Felicity Fabrics Cotton Dobby before and really liked how it behaved when sewn and washed, so chose this again in the Old Rose and Dusty Rose. The fabric is fairly lightweight but still has enough structure to hold the shape of the dress.

I chose to make the straighter silhouette of the two options as I really like this style of dress on my pear-shaped figure. The construction is really straight forward, apart from the wavy seam line – but for this step you just need to clip into the curved sections and use lots of pins to make sure you have it lined up correctly. There are no sleeves to insert and no zips or buttons to sew, so it is a fairly quick make. The back of the dress has a seam-line running down the centre and you create an eyelet opening at the top and attach a hook and eye to close the top of the dress. I ended up using a small plastic popper which I sewed on by hand.

The gorgeous Handmade label which has been specifically designed for Felicity Fabrics had to be sewn on your garment somewhere visible. I chose to sew mine onto the bottom right of my dress, just above the hem. With my dress being fairly plain, I didn’t have much choice of where to sew it, but I really like it where it is and at least I’ll see it every time I sit down.

Overall, I am really pleased with this dress and although it has more of a Summer vibe with the lightweight fabric, I do think I’ll be able to layer it up with a jacket, tights, boots or trainers to see me through the Autumn months.

Thank you to Felicity Fabrics for this wonderful sewing challenge, I have really enjoyed being part of it. If you want to see and hear more about my dress, I have a video all about it on my YouTube channel Sew Little Time.

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Sally – @theyorkshiresewist

For my secret dress project I decided to use the beautiful burgundy confetti viscose. It has lovely autumnal tones with shiny gold bits.
I did um and arr on what pattern to use but finally decided on the March dress by Helen’s Closet.
Since there is a lot of ease in this pattern I sized down to 12 and used the D cup option. I made my usually adjustments of taking 4″ off the length of skirt hem and 2″ off the sleeves.
I made some waist ties by using the bias tape pattern piece to cinch it in a bit as I’m a curvy gal I need to play off my best bits.
I really enjoyed the process of this dress as it made me slow down and made sure the techniques used were spot on. I sewn my label onto the front edge of the skirt as I felt it looked really nice there.
It’s been sooo hard not to tell the rest of the Felicity girls what we have been making but I’m sure it’ll be well worth the wait to see everyone’s creations.
Happy Sewing
Sal x

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Gemma – @thedalythread

Hi everyone,

So for my secret project I decided to use this beautiful “edelweiss sky” viscose fabric, and I chose to make the Selkie patterns London dress with it. The pattern had been sitting on my shelf for so long and it was finally time to make it 😉

I had to grade between several sizes to get the right fit. A size 10 at the shoulders to a 12 at the bust. Then to a 16 at the waist and back to a 10 at the hips! Phew!! It fits really nicely and the fabric was lovely to work with.

The London dress has some really pretty features which is what attracted me to it – pleats (or darts if you choose) at the front to create some nice shaping. Flutter sleeves and a key hole detail with a tie. I’m so happy with my dress and I hope to make another one in the near future!

I can’t wait to see what the other bloggers make! xx

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Liz – @thebakerthatsews

A few months ago the Felicity Fabrics blogger team joined together to sew up garments using a metre of double gauze. It was a fun challenge that encouraged us to think creatively. I love being part of the blogger team as everyone is so lovely and supportive and it is so inspiring seeing what everyone makes using the beautiful fabrics.

Over the summer Fliss and Caroline came up with another collaboration idea for the team to work on. I was very excited to hear of the latest challenge which involved more beautiful fabric and a dress pattern. We were challenged to create a dress using any fabric from the site and any pattern but it had to incorporate a ribbon that was sent to us. More to come on this later!

I love fabric shopping so excitedly browsed the newly updated website and settled quickly on some chunky washed cord fabric in dusky pink. Although I love the summer I knew autumn was approaching and if I’m being really honest with myself I love sewing for autumn! With the weather turning slightly colder I love the chance to wrap up, layer up and get cosy.

The pattern I settled on for my cord fabric was a tried and tested pattern and I have sewn up two versions of this pattern already. I knew it would fit me well and feel comfortable to wear to work or out with my family. I knew it would work layered up with a t-shirt or a chunky sweater too. I opted for the Tilly and the buttons Bobbie pinafore and skirt pattern. It is a button down skirt or pinafore pattern that’s got all the features of a classic pinafore. It features a curved waistband and princess seams on the back skirt as well as a fully lined bib and pockets at the hips. The bobbi pinafore comes in UK sizes 6 – 24 and is aimed at confident beginners. The pinafore fastens with dunagree buckles and has a wide range of pocket options too.

I decided to line my bib using some princess cotton fabric from Studio Jepson and the pockets are lined with rainbow fabric given to me by the lovely Tamlyn (Sewn on the Tyne) as part of a sewing swap. The washed corduroy has quite a soft texture making the pinafore even more comfortable to wear. I have enjoyed spending some time styling it with t-shirts so far and think it would look great with a blouse underneath too.

We were asked to include a ribbon on our dress somewhere visible that read ‘handmade’ and it was fun working out where this would look best on the pinafore. I often struggle to say ‘thanks I made it’ when I receive compliments on my clothes so I am hoping the handmade ribbon will do the talking for me instead – or encourage me to say proudly ‘I made it’. The ribbon was provided by @allsortedcreations and I decided to add it to my pocket. I ended up hand sewing it using white thread and I am really pleased with how it complements the finished garment.

It’s been another enjoyable challenge and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the blogger team make with their chosen fabric and ribbons!

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Rebekah – @sewno65

This is the second time I’ve taken part in one of our mystery group blogs. I love the element of surprise and mystery it brings. We would always share pics as a group of any of our recent makes, so I really had to contain my excitement from sharing any photos on the group chat!

Onto my dress…I gave Fliss and Caroline a few options and said to surprise me. I was delighted when I received this beautiful mid blue chambray with a gold rainbow foil. One my favourite dress patterns at the moment and maybe ever is the Tilly and the Buttons Lyra Dress. It’s definitely a TNT pattern for me now. So I decided to make that for my part in the blog. I made the longest version with a short sleeve. I think this is my favourite style of the pattern.

As part of the blog we each received a label which says Handmade. We couldn’t put in the typical place at the back neckline, so it was fun to get creative deciding where to put my label. I decided on putting it facing outwards on my left sleeve.

Seeing as I’ve made this dress a few times now it made it easier sailing through this particular one. I would really recommend trying this pattern if the style is your thing. I love the button style shirt, the gathered skirts and ties to cinch in the waistline.

The fabric was also wonderful to work with. It behaved so well on the machine and had the perfect amount of weight for gathering the skirts. It was also fine to iron with, I used a medium heat and the foil rainbows stayed intact.

Oh and also! I couldn’t resist pairing my dress with the gold metal poppers. I thought they tied in so well with the gold rainbows.

Thanks Caroline and Fliss for this fun blog!