A Holiday Molly Dress
I’m so excited to be a part of the Simple Life Pattern Company Holiday Blog Tour. Sewing for the holidays is one of my favorite things to do. Last year I went a little overboard and did 25 days of SLPco Christmas dresses. You can find all of those creations here.
With the arrival of a brand new baby girl this fall I just don’t have the time to sew as many dresses this year. Instead I decided to create something really special for my oldest and immediately decided on Molly.
Molly
Molly is my most sewn pattern and go-to for a special occasion dress. My absolute favorite thing about Molly is just how quickly you can sew this pattern. There are also so many ways to spruce her up. A few of my favorite ways to embelish Molly is with piping, lace, sequins, and tulle. And let’s not forget about the scoop back. It seriously makes me swoon every time. Whether you decide to make a dress or maxi length there really is something for everyone.
Another great thing about SLPco patterns is how easy it is to mash patterns together. Molly does not come with sleeves. However, there are lots of great sleeve options from SLPco, It literally took me 3 days to decide which sleeve I wanted to add. I kept going back and forth between Geneva, Mila, and Ava sleeves. In the end I decided to add Ava cap sleeves for a dainty feminine finish.
Tips & Tricks
When working with special fabrics like sequins and tulle there are a few tips and tricks I’d love to share to keep you from breaking needles on your machine or pulling your hair out in frustration.
When working with sequins I always remove the sequins from my seam allowance. This makes it easier for my machine to sew and keeps me from breaking any needles. I have some small Tula Pink snips that work great at cutting the little threads holding the sequins in place without cutting through the tulle mesh underneath. I also use Fabri-Tac glue to baste my sequin mesh fabric to a cotton woven fabric along the seam allowance. This keeps the fabric from shifting and stretching and produces a prettier finish.
For the skirt I used a gorgeous navy embroidered tulle from Fancy Pants Fabrics. I didn’t have a lot of this fabric on hand so I used a matching cotton woven fabric underneath and used the tulle as an overlay. I also cut the width of both fabrics at the full width for extra poof when gathered. When gathering the tulle it is helpful to lower the tension on your machine. I also hold my upper thread and bobbin thread and gently pull as I’m sewing to keep my machine from trying to eat the tulle since it is so lightweight. If you have trouble with your machine eating your fabric, try using a walking foot.
To finish off the bodice I used fabric covered snaps using coordinating fabric from my skirt. You can find a tutorial on how to do that here.
I hope you love my holiday Molly as much as Chacely does. I can’t wait to see what everyone sews up this year! I’m wishing you all a very happy holiday season. Stay safe and healthy friends!
Happy sewing,
Chauncey
