Purple Floral Magnolia Dress - With Craft and Thrift Shop

Happy Sunday! I hope you are safe and healthy wherever in the world you may be! Sewing helps to distract me, and calms me in times of uncertainty, so I hope my work can calm/distract you if only for a moment.

Part of my sustainable fashion journey is buying secondhand/sustainable fabrics, which can be difficult to come by. I’ve often talked about one of my local sources, Fab Scrap, but little online shops are popping up! They often have collections of deadstock, and thrifted fabrics, meaning there is a limited amount - and limited time - for purchasing. For me, this is the perfect way to shop for fabric because I love letting the fabric speak to me. That’s exactly how this dress came to be!

Amy from Craft & Thrift Shop on Etsy reached out to me a few months ago about making a piece with fabric from her shop. Amy’s shop is filled with some of the most gorgeous secondhand fabrics, and this stunning print jumped out at me!

I thought this material would make a great dress, and Deer & Doe Magnolia was the first dress to come to mind. I had seen such glamorous versions of this dress and have always wanted to make it. Having this fabric seemed like the perfect opportunity! My vision was View A with the full sleeve in midi length, since I knew I would be able to get more wear out of the shorter skirt. But, I realized I had plenty of fabric to go with the full length, so I wanted to test it out before making any final decisions.

I cut the full skirt length and full sleeves from my fabric - which thankfully juuuuuust fit! After stitching the bodice and skirt together (without sleeves) I took a progress photo and asked instagram what to do. It was a resounding yes to keeping the full length skirt. Quite a few comments also said to keep it sleeveless, which I was still on the fence about. But the comments that made the most sense to me were to keep the long skirt for now, and shorten it later if I want to!

I still had dreams of the dress with full sleeves, so I had to try it out. I made one long sleeve and kept the other side sleeveless. I tried it on in front of the mirror and for Drew to help me decide. The full sleeve was definitely too overwhelming for me, so I cut the flutter sleeve from the full sleeve. And I think it is the perfect touch! I have a lot of sleeveless dresses, but I don’t have one with flutter sleeves!

Pattern details: I made Magnolia in a size 36, I cut out view A with the plunging neckline but wound up stitching the neckline a little higher because the plunge was too open. The dress came together very smoothly, and quickly! Instructions were great, as was sizing.

Fabric Details: I chose this amazing purple floral print from Amy's shop to make my dress. It was designed by John Kaldor, and is a woven polyester. Amy ships from Scotland so it was really cool to receive a package from overseas (and quickly!)

Shopping for fabric online can be tough. You can’t feel, you can’t see the true colors, all you can go on is the photos and description listed. What makes me thrilled to recommend Craft & Thrift Shop is because you get to buy from another seamstress, who knows what you want to know about the material. What’s the fabric content? What’s the best thing to make with the fabric? Bags or garments, a dress or pants? How about washing instructions? Amy has it all covered. Her shop is organized by fabric type, and she even sells notions, buttons and yarns! Here are some of my current favorites in her shop:

Vintage Orange Floral