Hi everyone! I’m Michelle and this is my very first post over here on the Cali fabrics blog. I am excited to share with you what I made for my 17 year old redheaded vintage-loving daughter (who we refer to as The Bee) with these amazing fabrics.

I sewed up a Holiday dress for her using the Ginseng Pattern by Sew Chic Pattern Company, (who generously supplied me with the pattern) which has a vintage-50’s housewife-cocktail party-vibe. So I was interested in heavier fabric with nice drape, yet good structure, and if possible, a little stretch. The reason was because the skirt portion of this dress is a circle skirt, and I have found it so much easier to hem around neatly and evenly if the fabric I am using has a tiny bit of stretch to it. It also tends to flare out nicely when the fabric has a little structure, and nice drape. Really I needed the perfect combination of all these things to make this dress work. I, luckily, found this crazy-fantastic Gold on Gold Damask Stretch Twill and both my daughter and I fell in love with it. Not only was it ideal for this project, but I could easily see using it for a nice pair of jeans, pencil skirt, or even fabric upholstery. It is THAT versatile. And THAT dreamy. I told The Bee that I wanted to make all of us clothing with it, a la Maria from Sound of Music.

Ron helped me pair it with this Champagne Midweight Bridal Satin, which was a perfect match (THANK YOU RON!). It was also easy to work with (which honestly surprised me because most Bridal Satin can be difficult). I did end up finishing the edges on all the satin pieces before I sewed them together, to ensure there would not be any fraying. It worked like a charm. I used it not only as an accent, but also to line the entire bodice. My daughter said that it feels luxurious.

Can you tell it was 34 degrees out, and her nose was cold? What a great sport she was. Anything for a pretty dress, right?

I was brave (uh, or maybe foolish-but let’s go with brave) to go into this project blindly, never having sewn this pattern before, and not do a muslin. Yikes. But I will say that I am so glad that it turned out so well, the pattern was pretty straight-forward (I didn’t even have to make any sizing adjustments), and glad that this twill is really forgiving.

She is now ready for the holidays, in style.

Thank you so much, Cali Fabrics for having me here today! It was truly a pleasure to sew this dress up in your incredible fabric, and to work with your amazingly helpful staff. Seriously.

Michelle is a blogger over at Falafel and the Bee and Virtual Assistant over at Project Run and Play. She lives in WA state with her husband and two daughters and loves to sew and craft and create.