We are delighted to be part of Sew Straight & Gather’s Uptown/Downtown Dress blog tour. Terri was one of our Challenge Create: Fabric Swap Edition contestants. The Uptown/Downtown Dress with the free Expansion pack can be described in one word: perfection! When we saw Terri unfolding the free expansion pack day by day, we commented on how her daughter must be the most well dressed kid on the block! In the country!
We loved the expansion pack options so much that we didn’t know where to start when we bought our Uptown Downtown Dress, and finally narrowed it down to two dresses. We just had to make an Uptown and a Downtown dress!
After I bought the pattern, I went shopping for knit and had a flowered Monet’s garden look in mind with black sleeves and waistband. But I couldn’t find the right floral, and called Allegra over for help. She immediately zoomed in on this sparkly slate blue knit and suggested the shiny grey accents. I wasn’t sure, but she reassured me several times that this is what we needed! I trusted her and, once again, I’m glad I did!
Once we were back home, I showed Allegra a stretchy polyester fabric I’d picked up at JoAnns on a previous trip, and it matched the slate blue knit perfectly! I told her I was thinking about sewing up and Uptown and Downtown version of the dress, and did she think I was crazy? She insisted that was the right thing to do, so the second dress was born! But taking them one at a time…
The slate blue Uptown/Downtown Dress is Annie’s favorite! She says she feels like a princess, and she looks like a medieval lady! The extensions we chose for this one are: cutting it up, long sleeves, pockets, and maxi length. We’re calling this one our Uptown Dress! Fancy enough for any uptown event.
I followed Terri’s directions almost exactly except for two things; I widened the waistband to incorporate the full width of the shiny chevron on the grey fabric, and I used fold over elastic for the neckline, and it worked perfectly! (Much better than the first time I used FOE!) I happened to have the perfect shiny grey FOE in my stash!
I’d bought the fold over elastic to go with this fabric, but then ended up making that into a skirt! Now I’m really glad I’d saved it for this dress…it’s the little details that make it so perfectly Uptown!
I also chose to add some double needle topstitching to the waistband to accent that silver even more.
Allegra insisted on taking Annie to somewhere special for photographing this dress, and found a place with castle-like vibes to complement the medieval flair of the dress.
There was even a spiral staircase to explore.
It led to a turret!
Like we said earlier, this dress is just perfect! And twirl…oh my!
The second dress has a more modern feel to it, with the shorter length and the cowl. We’re calling this one our Downtown Dress. Modern, hip, get the job done, in style!
Even with the shorter length, the cowl makes this one perfect for winter.
The extensions we chose for this dress are: the cowl, long sleeves and pockets.
The slate blue knit combined with those fall feather colors make this one special dress.
Although Annie was not with us on the fabric buying trip, Allegra assured me this blue would make her eyes pop, and she was right…it’s the exact same color!
Let us just say, these are the first 2 dresses we’ve sewn using the Uptown Downtown Dress pattern by Sew Straight & Gather. There will be many more! And this dress pattern is perfect for gift giving too, so you’ll need one in order to complete your holiday!
Skirt Fixation 
You did an amazing job with both of these! AND I agree, she looks like a princess.
Oh I would so love to win this pattern! I think I would sew quite a few of these.
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