Simplicity 9886 Color-Blocked Dress

I decided to make this Simplicity 9886 color-blocked dress using some fabrics I had in my fabric stash. It wasn’t hard to find three fabrics to go together. It was more difficult to actually choose which ones of many to use 😂.

The Fabric

The pattern calls for the use of three woven fabrics. All of the ones I used are light to medium weight cotton blends. The blue that is the main fabric is a linen-like blend that I had bought at JoAnn Fabrics some years ago. The floral is from Hobby Lobby, purchased a few years ago. The yellow is a basic quilting cotton in a solid color. It’s a thin fabric which is one of the reasons it’s the smallest section.

The Pattern

In order to make things easier on myself, I chose to sketch out the design first. This was so important because I didn’t have to constantly think about how the pieces were going together. Mind you, I am not an artist so sketching is not my thing – LOL. But, it is so helpful to have this to refer to during the sewing process.

Sketch of the line drawing for the dress

This is a sketch of the line drawing for both front and back. Colored pencils make the sketch come to life and help in the visualization process. I’m not sure if you can tell from the sketch, but there are inseam pockets in the dress.

My Dress

woman wearing Simplicity 9886 color-blocked dress

Simplicity 9886 is not a difficult pattern to make. I think that all the preparations I did ahead of time helped a lot! The dress is View C, with the length of View A. The midi length is one of my favorites.

Because there is lots of stay stitching (which I recommend you do), you may find that you’ll use a lot of thread. But those stitches are important since they help to keep the pattern pieces from stretching out of shape.

It’s important to give yourself as little room for confusion as possible when making a color blocked garment. That’s especially important if you don’t do many projects like this. I used a very similar process when I made this color-blocked top.

Conclusion

Overall, I can recommend Simplicity 9886 color-blocked dress. It can be made for bold and bright colors, or you can choose something more subtle. I believe that with a bit of preplanning, you can have a successful garment completed in a short amount of time. The dress is comfortable to wear and I think it’s a good addition to my spring/summer wardrobe.

Springtime Favorites (Old and New)

Now that the days are getting longer here in the mid-Atlantic region of the US and the sun shines more often, I can’t help but think Spring. So, I wanted to share some of my springtime favorites, which includes patterns and some previous makes. While we all love getting new patterns, if you’re anything like me, you have plenty of patterns that may never have even been taken out of the pattern envelopes – LOL! This post will show some of those (purchased in previous years and purchased last month).

Years ago, I made this skirt using Vogue 8295. I actually featured it in a blog post back here.

This is a fun look that can be casual and comfortable as well. I used an older pattern to make this, but I like to share ideas for patterns you may already have.

One of my favorites is this jacket pattern. McCall’s 6172 is great for a classic jacket. I’ve made this twice already. The bright, sunny yellow is my favorite because it’s such a happy, springtime look.

M6172 jacket and M7906 skirt — McCall’s 6172 jacket and McCall’s 7906 skirt

And that skirt has also proven to be a favorite as well. It is McCall’s 7906. I intend to make this again, maybe in a solid (corduroy would be a good option).

As far as new (or newer) patterns are concerned, I’ll show you a couple of those to help you get your creative juices going.

I bought this stretch cotton sateen recently along with several packs of pink buttons in order to make a dress. I had this pattern (Butterick 6674) that I think will be a perfect match for the fabric. The dress might need to be lined since the fabric is a bit thin. Honestly, I haven’t made a dress in a while and I’m looking forward to having some for summer, especially.

A “moto” jacket on my list of things I want to sew. I bought this pattern right after it came out.

While I don’t want to use a glitter fabric for it, I might be able to find something suitable in my own fabric stash. This pattern has pockets which a bit different from a previous make. I might give this one a try.

I hope I have given you some ideas on projects you might want to tackle for yourselves. These are just a few of my springtime favorites. Although I’m not really working off of my list, I find that I am actually making progress. I have been able to check some things off!

“Vogue Basic” Classic Jacket

I’m working on adding some classic pieces and basics to my wardrobe this year. To that end, I have added another versatile piece with this Vogue Patterns 7975 lined jacket. This pattern has been around for a while and this is not the first time I’ve made it. My first one (which I still have and wear) is here.

This is a combination of views on the pattern. It’s basically View B without the chenille trim (which I couldn’t find). But I just love that this is fully lined and can be made from a variety of different fabrics. This is a black and white polyester blend suiting (I think) that I’ve had for a few years. I used lining material I bought at JoAnn’s a while back.

The hardest part about making this was that the fabric kept unraveling on the cut edges. I serged the seams after they were sewn because I don’t like to see those stray threads coming out from the lining that can occasionally happen.

This pattern also gives instructions on hand sewing the sleeve lining to the jacket, which is something that I didn’t think I would enjoy. But I found it to be fairly relaxing, in part because of the time it takes to get it done.

Is hand sewing something you enjoy, or something you try to avoid?

I know some people will do anything to avoid sewing anything by hand!

But if you get the chance to make this pattern or something similar, it’s worth the effort. I think this style is so adaptable to many different body shapes and sizes.

Until next time…

Keep on sewing!