The Sew and Tell Project

Hey guys!

Have you ever taken a risk on a pattern and been thrilled with the results? We love Sofilantjes patterns in our house, but when I saw the tester previews of the new Solis Dress and Tunic I was a bit worried that this would be a style I wouldn’t be able to make work for my slender girls.

The Solis is an ontrend racerback sundress with two skirt options (pleated tunic or dress length and a circle skirt). It has a lovely and unique racerback style. However, when I go shopping for my daughters and see these styles I immediately know that we will have peekaboo gaping, saggy necklines, and a skirt that is too short.

I almost didn’t sign up but since Anne, the designer at Sofilantjes, is so awesome and amazing with tester feedback, I decided to risk it even though I would have to blend a size 6 width to 11 length to get the proper fit for Middle Miss.

Overall, I am thrilled with the results. There are a couple of things I would change when I make this again, but they are due to my choices when doing “extreme blending”, not the drafting of the pattern.

This is meant to be a very fitted garment. It is much tighter in the bodice than many of my daughter’s play dresses. You MUST go by the size chart and if you are sewing for someone between sizes I recommend you size down. If you need to grade out at the waist, that is okay, but you don’t want the bodice to gape. I also recommend using a quality knit on this for the best recovery. All of the fabrics I used are from the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop. The Hawaiian floral print was actually my first custom knit purchase and I had been saving it for the perfect summer pattern since we were headed into winter when I ordered it!  The red solid is a cotton lycra solid from the PAB shop as well.

The first thing I will change on my next one are moving the pockets up. Since Middle Miss has long arms I thought I could place the pockets on the 11 placement line. When I discovered they were too low after I was done, her response was, “This will be great for hiding my 4th of July parade candy, Mom!!!”

The second thing I will change on my  next one is using the size 6 neckline. I thought cutting along the 11 would give her a bit more coverage, but I think that is lost with the extra width of the neckline. This is just the result of me experimenting my way through what works best when blending the sizes of these patterns. Thanks for bearing with me as I learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for me!

And finally the racerback backview. You can see that this nicely hugs her shoulder blades well. One of my major concerns was that the top would twist (and expose) as she moves and plays. It stays put very nicely. I think the back is gorgeous and the fully-lined bodice makes for a nice finish.

Head on over to Sofilantjes today to grab your copy of the Solis Dress and Tunic! It will be on sale for 48 hours only!