Day two of the Cadence Sew Along is all about getting our fabric cut out and marked. If you are just joining us, be sure to read over Day One’s Post to go over measuring for your size and adjusting the pattern to fit your unique body.
Picking fabric for your Cadence Dress or Top
Fabric always plays a big part in the final outcome of a piece of clothing. The Cadence Dress and Top is no exception. In the pattern, it states that we want “Light to medium weight apparel wovens such as linen, chambray, rayon & poplin. Knits may be used as well but sizing down may be needed.” So, we have a pretty wide range of fabrics to choose from!
Keeping cool
I love cotton for keeping cool in the summer. The natural fibers are great for humid summer months as they breath and let the air flow around your body. This organic cotton floral from Monaluna is great for summer. However, this fabric doesn’t have quite as much drape as we may want for Cadence. It would make a wonderful Sonata dress though! Below, you can see how the pink cherry blossom Monaluna compares to the green cotton in the middle and the rayon floral on the right. The green is a bit heavier weight than the Monaluna and it shows in the drape. The blue floral is much lighter weight.
Popular opinion in our Facebook group voted I sew up the Monaluna, so that is definitely happening this week!
I’ve picked up a few rayon fabrics over the past year that I just love! They have great drape and are nice and cool to wear, making this perfect for Cadence!
Linen is also a nice choice, but be aware it has less drape. If you pick a 100% cotton, it will wrinkle, but that’s just the nature of linen. If you want to reduce wrinkles, go for a linen blend. Be sure to stick to stick to lighter weight linen, it can get heavy and won’t be quite as cool to wear. Linen a classic fabric that never goes out of style. That yellow linen is definitely calling to be a Cadence top!
Below you can see the range of drape between the fabrics. From left to right, rayon, rayon linen, cotton woven, light weight cotton chambray, rayon, cotton linen.
Cutting out the fabric
Now that our fabric has been decided on, it’s time to cut it out! I prefer to use a rotary cutter and mat. These giant washers from the hardware store make great pattern weights. Keeping your pattern in place and your fabric from shifting is very important and these do a great job!
Once we have our pattern cut out, we need to transfer the markings. See this post if you need help deciding on a marking tool! I personally LOVE my tracing paper and wheel for marking darts.
If you are planning to add the elastic waistband, now is a great time to mark the waistline. You can always slip your Cadence on to check it’s placement after we get it sewn up and before attaching the casing. (That will be my plan of attack.)
Applying interfacing
If you are sewing a Cadence with sleeves, you will be using the neckline facing piece. This piece needs to have some light weight interfacing applied to it. What is lightweight interfacing? Well, there are several to choose from. My favorite is Pellon SF101 I use it for everything. However, if I want something a bit lighter weight, to maintain the drape of the fabric, I will go with this ultra lightweight interfacing from Pellon. Pellon 911FF is another good choice for lightweight fabrics, as is Pellon 906F .
To apply your interfacing, be sure to follow the instructions included. It’s important to remember to use a pressing cloth when using fusible interfacing to protect your iron from the glue.
Tomorrow we will begin sewing!!
