Tuesday, July 25, 2017

The Waterfall Raglan Dress by Chalk and Notch.

I didn't exactly plan to post two blue dresses both by Chalk and Notch Patterns in a row but I guess that's what is happening.

Today I'm showing you my first Waterfall Raglan Dress.



Yes, you are right. I have blogged about this pattern before HERE when I made two long-sleeved Waterfall Raglan Tops.

I mention in that previous post that one of them was a bit tight one my wide shoulders. I made this dress one size bigger plus I sewed my seams together with a 4-thread overlocker which uses a slightly smaller seam allowance than the 1 cm / 3/8" that the pattern has added. That did the trick as you can see.


As soon as I made those tops, which I have used SO much during the winter, I knew that I wanted to try the dress version buuuut I didn't quite have the right fabric. It requires fabric with some drape OR at least some thin fabric because that will have some drape too. But thin fabric is often see-through and I didn't really wanted to deal with that aspect.

Then I found HIPPU fabric from Nosh fabrics and the sewing could begin.


HIPPU is 99% cotton and 1% viscose (or rayon as it is called here in the US). The viscose part is thin black strings woven into the cotton, which creates a great visual detail.
I love that the knit has an almost vintage knit look to it. Since the knit contains no spandex it does not stretch a lot which makes it easy to sew but also makes it more suited for more loose fitting styles. Just like the Waterfall Raglan! No slim fit tees or leggings with this fabric!


The weight for Nosh' regular knit jersey is 190-200 g/m2 and the weight for HIPPU is 125-130 g/m2 (don't worry I wouldn't know what that means either unless I had another fabric  weight to compare with). But as you can see the HIPPU is quite a lot thinner/lighter than the regular jersey. But fear not, it's not tissue weight or anything. Just thinner than their regular jersey. And like I said earlier, it's pretty easy to work with because it does not have a lot of stretch.



This is the original length. The dress is meant to be more mid length but when I saw Gabriela's hacked above knee length version I knew I wanted to make that too....just a tad longer so it hid my knees. And with me being tall, all I had to do was..... nothing, lol. Easiest hack ever!
I'm sorry for not linking to Gabriela's version but it turns out she has only posted the photos in the Chalk and Notch Pattern group on Facebook. But that's an awesome group to be a member of, so if you are not already you should totally join. HERE is the link.


There isn't much more to say. It's one of those simple but perfect patterns that will always give an amazing result (if you follow the fabric recommendations etc of course).

By the way I saved quite a lot of fabric by adding a seam center back (as opposed to cutting it to fold). I know it looks better with no seam but I'm not that bothered by it either. I thought I would mention it, in case you were in a fabric pinch and maybe this trick could get you going.



Once again I used Nosh's amazing ribbing and look at that color match! It looks like the 1x1 that I used is sold out in this color but they have it in 2 x1 rib which is just slightly thicker and more visibly ribbed but still a great product.


I couldn't leave out a fusible interfacing tip, could I!
I usually stay far away from attempting to sew pockets on knit. It's simply not worth the headache for me. But this not so stretchy fabric is doable. The top of the stitches on the pocket becomes a fragile spot and can cause holes in the fabric over time - even if the pocket is just decoration. So I added two small squares of fusible interfacing before stitching the pocket in place.  
Problem solved!


And we can't leave out the twirling photo either!

Get your own Waterfall raglan HERE.
The fabrics are kindly sponsored by Nosh fabrics and you can get them HERE.

Thank you!

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6 comments:

  1. Feeling pretty special with these awesome posts! Love this dress and your great interfacing tip! XO

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  2. Looks lovely! I want one just like it.

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  3. I love this dress and your interfacing (and other) tips! I'm with Emily - I want a dress exactly like this one!!

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  4. This fabric is indeed perfect for Waterfall dress! I now appreciate fabric shops telling me those weird numbers because it gives me some indication of how thin/drapey fabric is. Do you have any tips on how to achieve lovely triangles at the corners of pockets?

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