Saturday, April 16, 2016

Balloon fold dress

Last year, Madeit released the amazing Fold collection. I bought most of the patterns, but due to my pattern backlog, this one is the first of the Madeit collection that I actually sewed. I have several patterns that I have never sewed (which is why I joined the sew-your-pattern-stash group last year) but I still buy new ones. I feel this is a usual phenomenon for sewists, as is having a huge fabric stock, but still I think. I should change my ways. There are several gems in my pattern collection that are screaming to be sewn. This balloon fold dress was one of those gems for sure.


I sewed this versatile garment during my sew weekend, but I did not have time to show it to you yet (seeing as I a bit over-committed myself in testing garments). The woman behind the humorous blog Needle and Ted is also behind this pattern. She blogged this week about a balloon fold dress for her eldest daughter, and I realized I have to make one for my eight year old as well, but let's first talk about this one.



I took the paper pieces to the weekend, but more like a back up project. During the weekend I mostly sewed woven test garments. On Saturday afternoon I craved a satisfactory quick project, balloon fold dress to the rescue. The balloon fold dress is intended as a knit dress, I mixed it up though. The top is knit, but the skirt is double gauze. This very soft fabric has two pretty sides, making it perfect for this project. I bought the fabric at Nuttafabric, around the time the store opened its digital doors.



In the original pattern the back of the dress is in one piece, I changed that to have an entire knit bodice and to have a woven skirt part I did not have my instructions with me, so I winged the construction method. I made a fully lined bodice, which made finishing the armholes very easy, I finished the neckline with a neckband. The original construction method is with bias on the neckline and armholes.


The thing that makes this dress so versatile is the way you wear it. It is either a maxi dress, a bubble dress or a top with a skirt. Only one of the pics actually shows the top-skirt option, but you get the point. With hindsight the top-skirt version might not be ideal for a model with a baby belly, but the other two options look darn cute.



I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).

13 comments:

  1. de ballonversie vind ik het leukst! En ja, ook hier heel veel patronen die ik nog nooit gebruikte en er nog blijven bijkopen... 't Is een verslaving zoals een andere!

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    1. Die ballon versie is ook mijn favoriet op haar, maar het feit dat er de optie is om te veranderen vind ik super!

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  2. Ik vind de jurk super geworden, weer nieuwe inspiratie om niet gebruikte patronen wel eens te gaan gebruiken ;)

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    1. Ik zag laatst een patroon voorbijkomen waarvan ik zelfs vergeten was dat ik hem had...

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  3. Geweldig... speciaal patroon, zag dit nog nooit.

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    1. Ik vind het best verassend dat niet veel deze patronen naaien, ze zijn super!

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  4. Oh my! How fabulous. That's it, I'll be making woven versions too now, gosh I love it. OK, I'm off to check to see if I have any double sided woven fabric. But that double gauze you used is quite special.

    Thank you so much for buying our pattern(s).

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    1. Since I bought the pattern I have been wanting to make a full reversible one, just to sandwich two layers of cotton.

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  5. Leuk!! En als het 's avonds wat kouder wordt, in de zetel, kan ze er lekker in wegkruipen :-)

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    1. Yep, en er is ruimte genoeg om niet helemaal uitgerekt te worden door die knieeen.

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  6. De eerste keer dat ik dit zie! Ik denk dat ik eens in jouw patronenstapel zou willen neuzen ;) Leuke jurk! Ik vind de ballon-versie het leukste.

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    1. Er is weinig wat je niet vindt in mijn collectie denk ik :)

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  7. Fantastisch patroon! Zou iets voor Eryn zijn, ze wil lange jurken tegenwoordig.

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