A Sushi Cat Dress for the Literary Sewing Circle

I've made my project for the Literary Sewing Circle! I had this one in mind all along, but wasn't sure if it was actually going to work out or just look TOO over the top ;)

I like it! I was inspired by Ruth and Oliver's trip to "The Liver", when they visit Arigato Sushi to get some help deciphering the letters that were tucked into Nao's lunchbox. Also by the presence of both Pesto and Chibi in both Ruth and Nao's lives, cats who are important to them.

My favourite motif

I bought this Michael Miller Katamaki quilting cotton at the thrift store quite a while ago. There was a 3m. piece of it, and it was so cute I couldn't pass it up. Because the print is so huge, I needed a really simple design with not many seams at all to avoid excessive pattern matching woes.


I found the perfect pattern when I made my first Liesl & Co Terrace Dress earlier this year. This pattern is simple, an a-line shift with pockets and sleeve variations. I loved the way it fit me the first time I made it -- the shape of it is just right. So this time I made it longer (just below knee length) and added the longer sleeve option.

I had a bit of fuss over the sleeves, though. First I tried it with just the cut on dropped sleeve; it looked okay but the proportions didn't seem quite right. So I cut the longer sleeve; even with shortening it, it came almost to my wrist. It was too long and overwhelming. I just kept folding it under and testing until I came to the right length, about two inches below my elbow. At this length the sleeve fits the style of the dress and the proportions are right. I really like it.

I made the simple sash belt with this version, both because a larger one would have pattern clashed, and also because I was running out of fabric. I was able to squeeze this sash in along the edges of fabric I had left, and I have just a few small chunks of "Katamaki" left now. I'm going to repurpose them for some little pouches, since I can't bear to waste any of this entertaining fabric.

Even up to finishing it, I had in mind that if it turned out to be too overwhelming I could just cut it up for quilting or something like that. But as it turns out, once I got the length of both dress and sleeve right, and put it together with shoes and the perfect necklace, I really love it.

And of course, with a print like this, I had to find the perfect photo location. I went down to the General Store, home of Mr. Kim's Sushi & Rolls. (I love their veg sushi!)

They kindly gave me permission to take photos in the store. It's a fun place, a mix of convenience store, sushi bar, and gift shop. Their Korean and Japanese bowls, cups and decorative goods are lovely -- here I am admiring a tea tin. They also sell pretty chopsticks so I had to buy some to match my dress while eating sushi.

I was really pleased with this dress, and also by finishing off a photo session with some delicious avocado-cucumber sushi. What could be better? Well, probably not being so distracted looking over your photos that you put a huge blob of wasabi on one piece of sushi and then pop it down...just saying. Couldn't see much for a minute with my eyes watering, haha!

I definitely recommend this pattern! I've made it twice now and love both dresses. It's an easy sew, with nice finishing, and it is great for prints. Just like in my last version, though, I did raise the pocket placement by over 2". So check that before you sew any pieces down! Otherwise, excellent and reliable pattern. I love it.

If you've made your project already, don't forget to link it up in our final Literary Sewing Circle post!

McCalls 7992, or, the Millions of Cats dress

Now on the Fabricville blog, my latest Fabricville blogger's project is the cat's meow! I used this Laura Ashley pattern (McCalls 7992)  from a recent McCalls release:

And added this spectacular cat print quilting cotton:

Which turned into this:

The very best dress of all! And it matches in all ways with my favourite book of all time, Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag! This charming book, full of woodcut illustrations, is also the oldest American picture book still in print. If you don't know it, go find a copy right away.

As you can see, black and white matches with all my coloured tights ;)

But now for more on the dress itself. This is made with quilting cotton, which is very usable for clothing as long as you pay attention to the properties of it. For example, it really doesn't drape. So don't use it for flowy or highly gathered makes. But for this dress, all in one piece with an elastic casing sewn in afterwards, it works fine.  I really like this fabric -- it is a lightweight cotton which manages to hold its shape but also be flexible enough to wear in dress form.

The crispness of the fabric also holds the shape of the pussy bow nicely. (so many cat puns here). The neckline was one detail which really caught my attention when I first saw this pattern. The print makes it a little hard to see clearly, but it is a flat bow.

I also loved the little bit of sleeve ruching on View A

This dress is a lot of fun. From a distance it's hard to tell it is made up of cat faces. I love how the little odd white faces pop out and almost sparkle against the background.

It's also really fun to see how people stop talking to me in mid-conversation and stare more closely as they realize that the print is allover cats!

It's an easy sew; the collar is the only slightly unusual piece of the process. It's just a folded band sewn on with a facing, and then the ends are tied. Really not hard! The sleeve ruching is so easy -- just stitch on a stretched 2" piece of narrow elastic and it gathers up nicely when you are done. The body is cut as one piece -- front and back both cut from shoulder to hem, and an elastic casing added to the inside. I had to make mine colourful, since I had a vintage wide bias binding sitting right next to my table while I was sewing!

I did add a few inches to the length -- I think 2". And I am very short! So watch the skirt length if you are making it, to make sure you're comfortable with the finished fit.

Overall this was a quick and enjoyable make. I'll definitely make this one again, maybe in a softer fabric next time -- I can imagine it in a flannel for the fall, too! But I love, love, love the quality of this cotton, and the print is unbeatable. I've already worn this twice since I finished it last week -- and I have a large variety of coloured tights so I only see more fun outfits in my future ;) I'm going to enjoy wearing this one. I just won't hang it next to an earlier Fabricville project, McCalls 7534, in my closet, to avoid any trouble ;)