Dress Up This Town Blog Tour

I'm loving being involved in blog tours at the moment, here is my stop on the first Sewing by Ti tour I've been involved in! I've followed Ti's blog and tours for quite a while now so it's a little nerve wracking to be involved myself this time! Ti's blogtours are all themed but what that means to us is up to our individual interpretation! This tour is themed "Dress up this Town" and my immediate thoughts on that were dresses for occasions, not just for Weddings, Christenings and evenings out but for the lunch dates with your girlfriends, for attending Church, for any occasion where you want something a little more than an everyday casual dress. What I came up with may not surprise those of you who know me and know what a HUGE fan of Itch to Stitch Designs I am, so here we have 3 dresses all from ITS all very suitable for occasion wear when sewn in the right fabrics whilst still working brilliantly as casual everyday dresses in others. PS. make it to the bottom for the great giveaways!

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Kathryn

Oceanside

Marbella

I'm going to start by talking about the Kathryn Dress as it was the first one I made for this tour.  I was drawn to how simple the design was, I've found that often the simplest designs can be the most versatile and easiest to adapt the look.  It was released by ITS almost 2 years ago to the day! It has a classic shaped empire silhouette with neckline pleats similar to a couple of dresses recently seen making appearances in a few high street stores here in the UK and there aren't any sleeves to set in as the shoulder is just extended a little in the bodice pieces! 

The solid colour versions seen in the pattern listing made me originally only see this as an everyday top or dress but the fabric I chose is a beautiful floral scuba from Lulu's Fabrics and the print combined with the structure the scuba gives to the pleats and skirt really encourages me to think of my version as an occasion dress.  As per the measurement chart and the size I always sew in ITS patterns I made a size 0, it was such a dream to sew, coming together very quickly following the detailed illustrated instructions included and I was so confident in ITS sizing that I didn't even muslin before jumping in with my good fabric! (I would however never encourage you to do that!) The front bodice is fully lined to help keep the pleats and shaping nice and the back bodice neckline is finished with woven bias binding although it wouldn't be hard to fully line that either. 

Next up is actually a brand new release, the Oceanside Dress.  From the initial photo Kennis, the designer, released for the tester call, I was really looking forward to an easy to wear everyday dress but I quickly changed my mind when I was drawn to a drapey dusky lilac viscose (rayon) jersey and cream stretch lace to turn it into a romantic vintagey style dress I could wear somewhere a little special. I debated for a while whether to do a plain or lace waistband and eventually decided I'd go plain and make a lace 'belt' to dress it up when I need to. I felt it was perfect as it was to wear to an afternoon tea with my friends for my birthday so it would need to be a more formal even for me to wear the lace belt with it. 

Whilst the Oceanside didn't come together quite as quickly as the Kathryn, it was still a fairly quick sew and I completed it from print to finished in 1 day.  The trickiest parts are sewing the 'V's at the centre front neckline and the bottom of the sleeves but again, the instructions are nicely detailed and illustrated and breakdown the steps very well so take your time there but then the rest comes together really quickly. Bonus is it's still on release sale until midnight tomorrow (3rd July)! 

Then we have the Marbella, (click here for my full Marbella review) sometimes jersey dresses just don't cut it for occasion wear and a woven dress is needed instead. I love the Marbella for this, with its princess seams, yoke and boat neck and choice of 2 skirt styles the fabric you use can really make this something special.  I used a purple cotton sateen and the circle skirt to make a Marbella to wear to my Brother's wedding.  It fit beautifully straight from the pattern thanks to the detailed measurement chart and the different pattern pieces for different bust cup sizes and it has pockets! Who does want pockets in their dresses? I'm forever being handed things by my children and down always have my purse with me, so the pockets have been great!  

But, if you're not needing it to be as formal as this, I also made one recently in cotton poplin from Splashings of Fabric, this has a much more relaxed feel whilst still being the exact same pattern pieces used! Still able to be worn to some occasions and also as an everyday dress 

Whatever dress is your favourite {and I'd love to know down in the comments!} I'm sure you'll agree that Itch to Stitch has a dress to suit every occasion in their current collection of 9! If you've never used an ITS pattern, they have 2 free ones, the Lindy skirt and the Lago tank, perfect for trialling a new designer or just adding to your handmade wardrobe! AND....don't forget if you buy more than 1 pattern you'll automatically get a quantity discount applied in your cart!

Week 1 Tour Sponsors, a HUGE thank you to them all!
~ George & Ginger ~ New Horizons ~ Itch to Stitch ~ Patterns for Pirates ~ Sew Like My Mom ~

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I hope you enjoyed my stop, thanks again for popping by, please do go and check out the other tour contributors and see their take on the Dress up this Town theme! PLUS, for a chance to win any Itch to Stitch pattern as well as some other fab prizes from the other tour sponsors this week, do enter the rafflecopter giveaways throughout!

Week 1: July 1st-8th
1- Sewing By Ti (Intro) and Stitching At Night
2- Me Made ***You are here.
3- Tenille's Thread
4- Sewing By Ti
5- Seams Sew Lo
6- Anne Mari Sews
7- Sea of Estrogen
8- Lulu and Celeste

Week 2: July 9th-15th
9- Living in Twinado Valley
10- Ma Moose
11- My Heart Will Sew On
12- Seams Sew Lo
13- Kate Will Knit
14- Creative Counselor
15- Sewing With Sarah

Week 3: July 16th-22nd
16- Stitching and Making
17- That's Sew Lily
18- Sprouting Jube Jube
19- Auschick Sews
20- Anne Mari Sews
21- Lulu and Celeste
22- On Wednesdays We Sew

Week 4: July 23rd-31st
23- Stitching At Night
24- Sewing Curves
25- My Heart Will Sew On
26- Indulging Mum
27- That's Sew Lily
28- Adventures With Bubba and Bug
29- Capture, Craft Cook
30- Sewing By Ti
31- Sew Like a Sloth

a Rafflecopter giveaway

​Affiliate links are included throughout this post marked with GREEN TEXT it costs you nothing extra but means I get a few cents if you buy the pattern after clicking through.  I would love it if you could use them if this post has inspired you but feel free to navigate there yourself if you prefer! All opinions expressed on my blog are entirely my own. Thanks, Sarah