***Valentine & Stitch patterns are sadly no longer available in the marketplace***
I have been looking forward to sewing up Valentine and Stitch’s Cassandra Pattern for quite some time now but I couldn’t decide on what fabric to go with. Did I want to do a solid as I usually do, maybe stripes or maybe a print? Well the decision became much easier when Helen of Valentine and Stitch announced that their patterns were going to be carried by Girl Charlee. Super exciting right?! I knew of Girl Charlee but I had never ordered from them before and living in Los Angeles, I can find so many deals in our very own fabric district that I don’t typically order fabric online. Well this case was different- so I thought in celebration of the lovely Helen and Rich being carried by Girl Charlee I will order a printed knit fabric from their shop!
I don’t usually do prints or florals. Not that I don’t like them. I actually love them! I just feel like I might get tired of the look as I have in the past when I have purchased RTW with bold prints or florals. Due to this I scoured through the Girl Charlee site looking for something, beautiful yet modern that still felt like me.
I went with the Plum Blue Feather Palm on Bluch Double Brushed Jersey Spandex Blend Knit and I absolutely love it! The colors in this print are so amazing – pinks, blues, reds, purples mixed in these gigantic palm leaves and feathers! It’s feminine but not too sweet so I don’t feel like a child. This blush color is one of my favorites as well – see my Valentine and Stitch Angelina dress. I feel really good in this color and it has become one of my favorite colors to seek out when buying fabric. I think this is going to be my go-to spring dress and I’m so glad I’m ready (not that I really need to wait for spring in LA).
Sewing up Cassandra was a breeze. Just like the Valentine and Stitch web site says “Easy to sew, easy to wear”. This is absolutely true. One thing I love about their patterns are the neckbands. If you have sewn a few of their patterns you will see how much effort the put into making sure you have a clean neckline. This pattern is no different. It calls for interfacing which is a technique I had not done on knit before so I was pleased to find that it works great and stabilized the neckline of this dress well for a more formal finish.
Cassandra offers two necklines (round and scoop), two hemlines (standard and asymmetrical), and two sleeve lengths (elbow and long). You can also purchase the Cassandra extension pack which allows you to sew up a cute cardigan or top with the same neckline, hemline and sleeve options as the dress. I have both and I intend on sewing the top to add some great staples to my wardrobe. I’m still tinkering around with what type of fabric I would like to use for the cardigan as I would love to add this to my closet as well.
I also love how their patterns hug my body in all the right places and Cassandra is no different. I’m a petite tittering on average height gal but I’m not very broad either so it’s nice to be able to sew up a pattern and not have to make any adjustments especially for the armscye which pops out on me for other patterns but not this one.
Back to the sewing, I was able to sew this up over a weekend. It would have been completed more quickly had my sewing machines – yes I said machines… not gone on strike. They refused to work properly until I cleaned them so I finally did. If you look closely on the neckline of my dress, there are a couple skipped stitches that I didn’t notice until after I finished. I debated on ripping out the seam but it already looked so nice that I decided against it. I may later on though.
As for recommendations, this dress looks so cute with a belt!! I didn’t have an intention of adding a belt when I first sewed it up but as I was swinging around in it I thought “Let’s try a belt with it!” and I loved the outcome. I also love this dress with my mauve Hi Sk8 Vans. The color matches perfectly and I adore those shoes… can’t help myself.
Till next time, happy sewing!
