Find Out How Angie Made A Shirred Dress From Munga Silk?

Another feather in our cap, Angie has joined our global community of sewists. 

Let's get to know Angie in her own words.

Hi my name is Angela but I simply go by the name Angie. I'm 50 years old, and I'm a married mom and grandmother. I started back sewing about 5 years ago after not touching a sewing machine for 30 years. I first learned to sew in High School and I am the only one in my family that knows how to sew.

The desire to return to sewing was always there but somehow life always got in the way. I decided 5 years ago to return to my first love of sewing and have never looked back. I decided shortly after that to share my sewing journey by blogging and sharing on social media and I have absolutely no regrets.

 

 

I have teamed up with Fabriclore to create some handmade garments using their beautiful fabric. They have a very wide selection of fabric which includes digitally printed fabric like the one I chose to use.

I chose this beautiful Pure Munga Silk Fabric in this Brown Beige Floral 

Print because it reminds me of Autumn Flowers. Where I live gets very cold outside but before it does, we’re blessed with a few very beautiful days of warmth and sun and I just imagined myself creating something that could work both for the Summer months and the beautiful days of Autumn.

 

Fabric

When I first started back sewing, I was so scared of prints but slowly converted into someone that loves prints and floral prints are one of my favorites. 

This Munga Silk fabric is so beautiful, soft, and flowy. I must admit it peaked my interest to work with a fabric that had been digitally designed and delicately handmade.

I pre-treated the fabric by hand washing in cold water and allowed it to hang and dry. This fabric is very lightweight, soft, and has an awesome drape to it which makes it perfect if you decided to create a beautiful dress or blouse. 

 

 

Pattern

I chose to create my entire design by self-drafting. This fabric is only 43 inches in width, so I decided to cut my fabric in a more non-traditional manner and use the straight grain of the fabric as my width. 

I cut it 52 inches wide and the entire length of 43 inches. I hemmed the top of the fabric by half of an inch and measured and marked my fabric down 11 inches and shirred the fabric ½ inch apart starting from the top hem down to the 11th-inch mark. 

There are many tutorials on YouTube that can show you how to shir fabric if you do not know how to. After finishing my shirring, I added steam to my fabric to shrink the elastic to size. I sewed the entire piece together and made that my center back. So easy and it took no time to put together such an awesome and quick dress. 

With the leftover fabric, I simply made a no-button-up shirt as a jacket by using my bodice slope and cutting the fabric this time in the traditional manner of laying my pieces where the width was on the cross-grain. I cut the back on the fold and cut 2 pieces for the front with a slight curve to the bottom front pieces. I cut a short sleeve, add a facing around the neckline and front center of the jacket. 

I hemmed both the shirt and bottom of the dress with a rolled hem using my serger. The only thing I wish I had remembered was to add pockets to the dress, because who doesn’t love pockets. I completed this entire 2-piece outfit in a day and I simply love the look and style of it.

 

 

Results

I am so pleased with the results and happy I went with the design I chose.

While it is about to get very cold where I live, I do have an upcoming tropical vacation to Jamaica in only 4 months and you can count on this making it along on that trip. 

 

 

One of the things I love about sewing my clothes is I can create the image I have in my mind and bring it to life. Do you feel the same? Share your magic in the comments below.