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Breaking the Pattern Ruska Knot Dress

Happy Monday! Taking a small departure from #sewfancypants to throw my hat in the ring for #sewtwistsandties by sharing my Ruska Knot Dress. This is another pattern included in the book Breaking the Pattern written by the ladies of Named Clothing. The Kaste Dress is what convinced me to buy the book, but projects like this Ruska Dress make me want to try everything.

Fabric

Back in December, I was fortunate to work with the ladies of Merritt Makes to share my Archer Button Up. When they asked me if I’d like to collaborate again and use some of their new sweater knit, I happily agreed. I had swatches of the fabric (they offer free swatches if you just ask), and knew it was something I’d like to use. This fabric was provided to me, but I also purchased 1.5 yards of another color to make a Nikko Top because it’s that good (see the Nikko I made in this post). The combination of rayon/modal/cotton/spandex in this sweater knit makes it feel lightweight and cozy all at the same time. The weight is perfect for a layering piece like a Nikko or even a t-shirt during transitional months. For this dress, I chose the charcoal color, and it’s opaque enough that I don’t feel a need to wear any type of slip underneath. Honestly, I should have bought a couple yards of each color because I’ve worn my Nikko in the mink color at least 3 times a week for the last 2 weeks and this dress for the last two days. In short, I’m a fan.

Preparation and Alterations

In general, I prefer the convenience of PDF patterns to paper patterns or books but, when a book includes so many beautiful options, I have to concede. A sweet former co-worker of mine introduced me to Pellon 830 or Easy Pattern years ago and it’s become my go-to for tracing patterns. It’s more durable than tracing paper, can be sewn (I often baste it together to check fit before cutting main fabric), and even ironed on a low setting when my pieces inevitably become crumpled due to my poor pattern organization. If I’ve convinced you to give it a try it’s usually available at JoAnn Fabrics and on Amazon.

I spent an evening tracing the 5 pattern pieces and cutting fabric. Like most people, I’m not a straight size and had to do a little bit of grading. I used a size 2 at the bust, graded to a 4 at the waist, and a 5 at the hips. I also added 4 inches to the length, but after trying on the nearly completed dress, decided to cut off 3 of those extra inches before hemming. Lesson learned. Next time I’ll just add 1 inch to the length. Other than minor grading and adding some length, my only other alteration was to use the long sleeves instead of the short sleeve length.

Construction

Unfortunately, I never quite keep an accurate count of the time spent on construction due to the regular disruptions that come with sewing and parenting at the same time. Nevertheless, I do know that this was a fairly straightforward and quick sew. I spent one evening constructing the dress and part of an afternoon hemming it. The trickiest part of construction was hemming the ties, but I pressed them well, used lots of pins and took my time with the double needle. As long as you’re not trying the rush the process, I think success can be yours. To sew the seams, I just used the lightning stitch on my regular machine. I then pressed them open and finished all the raw edges with my serger. Since this is a knit, finishing the edges isn’t necessary and you can complete this project without a serger. Adding twill tape at the shoulder seams provided necessary stabilization and was much easier than the clear elastic often recommended for the same purpose. Constructing this dress was a breath of fresh air in the middle of this month’s pants frenzy, a reminder that mixing things up once in a while is a welcome idea.


The Why Behind Making the Ruska Dress

When planning this dress, I had a date night outfit in mind. I don’t own a basic black dress and wanted something that was simultaneously comfortable, simple, and sexy. My day to day look includes little to no makeup, a top knot, and a simple top and pants. It’s rare these days that I get a chance to dress up and feel like an adult apart from my role as a mother. Earlier this month, my husband turned 28 and I wanted something extra special to wear for going out.

My husband’s birthday is always an extra special occasion because it also marks the anniversary of the first time we spent time together outside of school classes. Twelve years ago, he left his own 16th birthday party to come hang out with me and my friends at a high school basketball game. Afterwards, we went to Wendy’s where we got chased out of the restaurant after Marshall (my husband) and a couple of his friends attempted to go through the drive through with a shopping cart. We got in our respective cars and regrouped at Burger King before deciding that maybe we should go home before getting into any more trouble. I still remember going home that night and giggling with my sister Amanda and friend Teisha about this goofy boy that got us kicked out of Wendy’s. I’m sitting here smiling at the memory of my 15 year old self slowly falling for the boy who wooed me by knowing the nickname of Iowa (I moved to Utah from Iowa at 15) and left his birthday party to spend time with my friends and me.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I’m unsure of what to say that hasn’t already been said. This sweater knit and the Ruska Knot Dress seem destined for one another and I don’t want to ever take this off (currently wearing it as I type). Perhaps this spring or summer I’ll even find the time to whip up a short sleeve version of this dress. It would look equally lovely in the marine or oxblood colors of this knit also available from Merritt Makes. The fit, fabric, and design are exactly what I was looking for and, while not 100% perfect, I don’t think there’s anything I’d change.

Thanks for reading! Leaving you with a photo that’s a more accurate representation of what taking blog photos usually entails.

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Kaste Dress from Breaking the Pattern Book

HAPPY MONDAY! Shouting this from the rooftops because this is a make that makes me want to scream “SEWING IS THE FREAKING BEST!” Today I’m part of the D & H Fabrics Blog Tour. You can check out more about this dress and this luxurious Tencel Twill I used on their blog by clicking this link. Below I’m going to discuss the Named Clothing Breaking the Pattern book and the process of fitting this dress. 

The moment the ladies of Named Clothing announced that they were writing a book, I knew it would become part of my sewing library. I’ve made a few Named patterns and am an admirer of their unique, modern style. My pre-order copy of the book arrived this last Tuesday and it does NOT disappoint. It begins with a beginner-friendly bag and ends with a lined coat. There are dresses, skirts, tops, and pants with options to mix and match some patterns for seemingly endless possibilities. The Kaste Dress with butterfly sleeves caught my eye and the rest is history.

Muslin and Initial Fitting

Since I had a limited amount of fabric and not enough time to order more in case of a fitting emergency, I opted to make a muslin first. This is a rarity for me, but you know that I’m really serious about something if I start making a muslin. The last time I made a muslin was for these bold pants I completed in September. Also because of limited time, I decided to use my Pellon 830 Easy Pattern as my muslin “fabric.” Once I traced the pattern pieces onto the Easy Pattern, I simply cut out the required number of pieces. Then, following the pattern instructions, I quickly basted the darts and pattern pieces together. This resulted in a lovely 3D paper-like version of the dress that I could very carefully try on to assess fit. Since fitting the butterfly sleeve portion wasn’t necessary, I didn’t worry about that piece. The photo below shows what my muslin looked like. There are no photos of it on me because it’s a bit sheer. 

Initial fit adjustments:

  • Started with a size 3 at bust graded to a 4 at waist and a 5 at hips
  • Added 1/2″ to front and back bodice length just below bust line.
  • Added 1 1/2″ to length at hips. 

To my delight, The muslin fit was nearly perfect. I knew there would be other necessary adjustments with my final fabric, but the muslin gave me a good idea of where the darts would fit and if any changes would be necessary in that area. With the fit somewhat sorted, I cut out my main fabric. 

Sewing the Dress

Due to time constraints, deadlines, and an unexpectedly hectic week, I had one day to sew up this dress before meeting up with Sara for photographs. For the record, I don’t recommend sewing this dress in a day. I did not get more than a few hours of sleep. I made one mistake where I thought I was smarter than the instructions and inserted the zipper before attaching the facings. Spoiler alert: I am, in fact, not smarter than the instructions. By the I noticed my mistake, I had the dress nearly finished with the exception of the side seams and hem. I did not have time to correct this by ripping out the zipper and going back several steps. Instead, I used the method described in this video to attach the facing to the armholes. It worked, but next time, I’ll just follow the pattern instructions. 

My favorite part of the construction process was sewing the diagonal seams and contour darts. It’s been quite some time since I last sewed a contour dart and I’ve never sewn one that overlaps a seam line. Each step felt like putting together an elaborate puzzle. That end result though? 100% worth it. 

The dress was nearly finished, when I noticed that my serger needles were getting dull and starting to snag the fabric. Unfortunately, it was late at night and the allen wrench required to change the needles was nowhere to be found. I basted the hem in place and called it good until I could buy a new allen wrench . In case you were wondering, That’s on today’s agenda. Headed to the store for the correct sized wrench and properly finishing the last few seams in my dress. Fixing this properly ASAP so I can get lots of wear out of this baby. Just your friendly reminder that sewing isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, but I could probably benefit from a little more organization. 

Final Fit Adjustments

Once the dress was sewn up, I noticed some excess fabric in the mid-hip area and towards the hem. Starting at the upper hip, I slowly tapered the seam allowance to remove excess. At the lower hip, I took in the side seam by 1/4″, by mid-thigh, the side seam was taken in by 1/2″ and, by the hem it was taken in by almost 1″. This achieved a fitted, but unrestrictive skirt. I wanted to avoid the “so tight I can’t sit down” dilemma that sometimes happens when I wear woven bottoms that are too tight. With these final adjustments, my dress was complete.

Final Thoughts

I’m thrilled to have taken the time to sew a little bit of frosting. My sewing as of late has leaned heavily towards basics and getting out of that headspace for a moment was exhilarating. Honestly, I don’t have a lot of places to wear a dress like this, but it felt good and isn’t that sometimes the point of a hobby? Wearing it makes me feel special which is also a fantastic bonus. Feeling especially thankful for the opportunity to participate in the  D & H Fabrics blog tour as it pushed me creatively and brought me this gem of a dress. I’m also feeling inspired by this new book and trying to eke out all the time I can to stitch of a few more of its projects. 

Thanks for reading! Be sure to follow the tour happening all this week on the D & H Fabrics blog.

Want to see more of my Named Clothing makes? Check out my Ronja Dungarees, Gemma Dress, or Gemma Sweater. 

Interested to see other things I’ve made with D & H Fabrics? Read about my rayon Mila Shirt. 

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Gemma Sweater and Ginger Jeans in Raspberry Creek Fabrics

Hello! Today I’m sharing my latest outfit made from fabrics available online through Raspberry Creek Fabrics. You may have noticed by now that I’m a bit of a fabric collector and have several online fabric stores from which I regularly purchase. Raspberry Creek has a great selection of designer fabrics along with their in-house printed CLUB line. I was introduced to RCF in the summer of 2017 and just recently moved closer so that picking up my online orders could be even easier. Ok, so maybe that’s not actually why I moved to a new area, but it’s a nice perk. 

I’ve wanted to make the Named Clothing Gemma Sweater since it was released last fall. Instead, I made the dress version first (see that here), and put away the idea of a sweater for a while. It’s been in the back of my mind since, just waiting for the perfect fabric combination to come along. I wanted something with enough stretch to be comfortable, but the  correct weight and structure to really showcase the shape and style lines of the pattern. About a month ago, I was browsing Raspberry Creek Fabrics when I came across the solid ponte and knew I’d found my Gemma fabric. I chose the olive (sold out, but soon to be restocked) and charcoal for a combination that I’ve dubbed my Slytherin sweatshirt. 

A couple of years ago, I had some time to waste and decided to take the sorting quiz on Pottermore. I was perplexed when I found myself sorted into Slytherin. At first I felt almost ashamed by this because I don’t necessarily think of myself as the Tom Riddle or Draco Malfoy type. Like any millenial, I took a couple of minutes to have a mini identity crisis. Quickly, I remembered that the sorting hat allowed Harry to choose his house. In my situation (where none of this actually mattered because my life isn’t a fictional story), I decided that this means we get to choose which traits we want to embody.  loyalty and ambition aren’t bad traits and they are something I try to cultivate so maybe I can be a proud Slytherin after all. 

Ok, enough about my Hogwarts identity crisis. Let’s get back to talking about this sweater. Based on my measurements, I decided to cut and sew a size 38 (US 6). The only alteration made was to add 1″ to the length of the body and the sleeves.

I traced the pattern and cut the fabric in one afternooon, sewing it up the following afternoon. After a series of involved sewing projects, it felt liberating to start and finish something so quickly. This was my first experience sewing ponte fabric and it was much easier than expected. Despite a decent stretch percentage, it’s stable enough to sew easily without some of the headache that comes with sewing a lighter knit such as a cotton or rayon lycra. Overall, I’m so pleased with this sweater and enjoyed the process so fully that I’m considering buying a couple more colors of the RCF ponte and making matching sweaters for my sisters. 

Finally, let’s talk about these Ginger Jeans. This is my third pair of jeans and I made all the same alterations that I made to the first two (read about my sizing and alterations in this post). I’ve wanted a pair of black denim Ginger Jeans since before I dared tackle sewing a pair. In fact, one of my excuses to put off sewing jeans for so long was the difficulty in sourcing the “perfect” denim. Back in September, I unfortunately ended up  pulling an all-nighter while attempting to launch this new site. The next day, Diana posted in the Raspberry Creek Fabrics Facebook Group that Cone Mills denim had just been added to the site. In my sleep-deprived mind, I easily justified purchasing 3 yards of this tencel stretch denim. Patting my tired self on the back for this one because these black denim Gingers are dreamy. 

Just as anything handmade, there are a few imperfections and I can’t quite say that there’s absolutely nothing I’d change fit-wise (there are a few more wrinkles below the rear than I’d like), but all of my Gingers fit me 10x better than ready to wear jeans ever have and I’ve enjoyed immersing myself in the construction process each time. Jeans and pants have quickly become some of my most enjoyable and rewarding items, so if you’re on the fence about making some, what are you waiting for? Grab some Cone Mills denim and get to it. 

If you’ve made it here to the bottom, Thanks for reading. My favorite part of writing a post is finally having my items photographed so they can be added to my regular closet rotation. These two pieces are sure to get their fair share of wear as the temperatures drop over the next several months. What are you wearing/sewing for fall and winter? 

Want more Raspberry Creek Fabrics Inspiration? Check out my french terry loungewear set.  Want to see more of my Named Clothing makes? Check out my Ronja Dungarees or Gemma Dress. 

Full disclosure: The fabric for my sweater was provided to me, but all opinions are my own.