Neon Stripes Coastal Breeze

Lookit, another Coastal Breeze! Are y'all over this pattern yet? Because I'm not, obviously. This is my FOURTH one!

I'll keep this post short and sweet since I've already discussed the pattern so many times (here, here, here).

The fabric is an amazing modal/cotton/spandex from Girl Charlee, and I've had it for about two years. It's crazy soft and I've suffered from pattern-paralysis ever since I got it. Luckily, the Coastal Breeze pattern is so fool-proof that I've been able to finally sew up a lot of fabrics I love.

The tricky part is that I only had 1 yard, which was juuuuuuuust enough for the bodice and skirt.

via Instagram

Talk about cutting it close! For the waistband and neckband, I used up the last of my scraps from this little black dress. It's also a modal knit and the weight is similar, so it was a perfect match. Sadly, on the close-up you can see that the fabric is pilling already. This photo is overexposed a bit so it stands out more here than in real life. I hate pilling, booooo!

I adore this dress and wear it a lot, just like my other Coastal Breezes. And now I know that I can get a whole dress from 1 yard, if I use another fabric for the waist and neck. Hooray!

Floral Coastal Breeze

Who wants to see a third Coastal Breeze dress? What if I tell you that I've almost achieved TNT status with it? And that it's made in my most favorite fabric of all time?

You can see my first version here, and my second here. This is the Coastal Breeze pattern, by Make It Perfect. I could wear a million of these. It's such a quick sew, with a great result. I love the band in the middle that allows for fun color combinations and customization.

This is a size XS. Previously, I had a bit of gaping at the center back, and I wanted to narrow the neckline to cover my bra straps. I've finally got my pattern altered to be almost perfect (get it? make it perfect?). I very rarely make a pattern more than once, and three times is almost unheard-of, so you know I love it for realz.

I did make one minor change to the pattern design, just to see how it looked. The pattern calls for six pleats in the front and six in the back. This is easily the most time-consuming part. It's not terrible, but I wanted to see how it would look with gathering in the skirt instead of pleats. Remember, I gather with my serger, so it takes almost no time. I like the gathers, but I think the pleats probably look more...fancy? High-end? In any case, it's nice to have options for future dresses.

Let's talk about the fabric. This is a lightweight (though not sheer) cotton knit print. In case you weren't aware, AB wears cloth diapers, and two years ago I ran across one made from this fabric (it's not waterproof, you add a waterproof cover). Anyway, I fell in love with the fabric and thought the colors were beautiful. Imagine my extreme joy when I found the fabric at The Fabric Fairy! (Now, it appears to be sold out there, so, sorry...it's called "gala floral pucci knit" if you wanted to know.) I ordered two yards and...nothing. I did nothing. I barely even took it out of the plastic bag in which it was packaged. It gets worse. A year after that, it was on sale, and I bought three more yards! Now it was serious. I needed to make something with it, finally.

That's the beauty of a TNT pattern. I knew exactly how the dress would turn out, and it took away a huge amount of anxiety. Because I love the fabric so much, I cut and sewed carefully, and it shows in the garment. It's my favorite dress I've ever made. Projects like this make me so glad I invested in a coverstitch machine. The perfect pattern, the perfect fabric, and the perfect finishings.

The best part? The print fits my Wardrobe Architect color scheme (pinks and blues...although really it's red). Don't get me started on how hard it is to find a good print in a specific color scheme!

If I had to do it over again, I would have used something a little more substantial for the middle band. You can see in the above photo that it sags a bit under the weight and ripples slightly. The band is a lightweight rayon knit and I basically only choose it because of the color. So now you know, in case you make this dress.

I think three of these is enough for one summer, but you can bet I'll be pulling the pattern out again next year! Do you have fabric you refuse to use? I have to tell you, being able to wear the fabric instead of petting it on my shelf is WAY WAY better!

Mint and Navy Coastal Breeze Dress

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Hey, look everyone, I made a pattern more than once!

This is the Coastal Breeze Dress by Make It Perfect patterns, first reviewed here. I've been wearing my first one like crazy, so it just made sense to make another.

The fabric is a rayon jersey from Girl Charlee. I got it last year in a bargain box so I don't think they carry it anymore. It's soft and drapey but also a bit sheer. I have to wear a slip and a tank top underneath, which kind of ruins the light breeziness. It might be time to make a cotton slip instead of dealing with my heat-trapping nylon ones.

I cut my pieces so that the middle band of the dress would be navy and would make an uninterrupted pattern repeat of the stripes. It's not exactly perfect but it will work. I was rushing to finish the dress to wear out that night and some parts got a bit wonky (protip: don't rush projects, ever...do as I say and not as I do!).

It looks a bit droopy and part of that is imperfect stripe matching along the band. The drape of the fabric is also contributing to the droop. It's very lightweight and just doesn't hold its shape as well as my previous version, which was made with a heavier weight knit. That's fine, trial and error are a HUGE part of knowing about knits and determining what works when.

One new thing I tried (since I was rushing) was gathering the bottom of the bodice pieces on my serger.

It worked great! All you have to do is crank up the differential feed to the max, and send the fabric through without cutting anything off. I'll be sewing gathers on knits this way from now on, for sure.

For this version, I did try narrowing the neckline, which was a modification I mentioned in my previous review. To change the front pattern piece, I used my French curve lazily free-handed a new neckline.

Front pattern piece. Solid white paper is the new neckline.

Then I brought the back neckline in by the same amount, so that the length of the shoulders was the same.

Back pattern piece. Length added at shoulder along neckline.

I would like to say "hooray success!" but I can't lie to you lovely folks. Essentially I added more fabric to the back neckline, which for me resulted in the dreaded back neck gape:

BOOOO! Narrow shoulders why must you torture me so! I did some reading/digging/Googling/begging and finally came to the conclusion that I needed to leave the neckline of the back pattern piece alone. In order to change the back so it fit the elongated shoulder of the front, I need to add length on the armhole side.

Back pattern piece. Length added at shoulder on armhole side.

Spoiler alert: I've made one more Coastal Breeze with this modification and it worked much better. There is still a very slight back neck gape, but one tiny little change and I think I'll be at TNT status. Hooray!

With this dress in my closet, I'm giving some serious thought to a mint/navy fall/winter wardrobe color scheme...