Strawberry Fields : a Fringe dress : Olivia Jane Handcrafted

I’m back today with a brand new Rifle Paper Co dress. Several years ago, I made a Fringe Dress in Rifle rayon, and it is one of my most worn makes because it makes me feel polished with little to no effort. It also has the most wonderful drape, which I love.

Chalk and Notch, the company that put out the Fringe Dress, updated their sizing in the past year or so to include not only a larger range of sizes, but also an increased range of cup sizes. This made the fit of the dress so much better! I was able to use my regular size paired with the larger bust, and now I have a dress that fits so well. I have made a couple of others with this new sizing which you can see here and here.

When Rifle Paper Co released their Strawberry Fields collection, I hopped right onto their site to order the new rayon because I knew already that I loved the beautiful fluidity of the fabric, and of course because the design is gorgeous. I always try to order their fabric directly from them because I want to support the artist directly.

I added long sleeves with gathers at the wrist and narrow cuffs. To do this, I simply extended the sleeve piece to the length I needed, and then I gathered the fabric at the wrists to the same size as the cuffs which fit closely on my wrists. Now that its done, I think I ought to have just made the cuff the same size as the sleeve, and just inserted elastic in a channel so that they could more easily fit over my big hands. But I so often learn through trial and error, so I will know for next time. I can always just remove this cuff and rework it if it irritates me enough. Another change that I made to this Fringe is the skirt. I cut some rectangular pieces and made a plain gathered skirt with a bottom gathered tier. If I’m being honest, and I am, I would have to admit that I like the idea of the skirt better than I like wearing it in real life. Why? Well, for one, the skirt that comes with the Fringe pattern fits beautifully. Even if I wanted to lengthen it, I should have cut the skirt it came with because it does have some curve to the hip which provides a lovely shape.

Because I did not cut the skirt it came with, I have more fabric gathered at the waist and too little around my derrière, which I don’t love. Again, if this annoys me enough while I wear it, I will likely nix the gathered tier at the bottom, and rework the top portion. It probably wouldn’t bother me if the skirt was shorter. I hope this post doesn’t come across as negative. I like this dress a lot, but I know that talking through the things I would change that would help me to love it will help me because I do want to learn as I go. Fine tuning things to find what clicks for me helps me to make pieces that will be loved and worn often. I have no desire to make just to post here or on social media. I want to enjoy and use whatever I make!