Rayna Dress.

 Today I have a treat for you. When it comes to sewing for myself, I usually use patterns made by others as I don't feel like drafting a pattern for myself after I've dealt with drafting patterns for everyone else. Cobbler's children and all that. But when I was working on making my own wedding dress I decided to kill two birds with one stone and made me a bodice block that fits me. Since then I've used it a few times and this is one of the results. The Rayna Dress.

I had to attend a birthday party of a near and dear relative who turned 80 years old. I decided to make a simple dress with the fabrics I had in my stash. I had two rayon fabrics with sheer patterns and even though the pattern was slightly different, I figured it wouldn't make too much of a difference and would add an interesting twist. I also wanted to use this red cotton I had in my stash and decided to line the dress with it and add a contrasting waist piece.

I didn't want the seam allowances to be seen through the main fabric so I decided to use the red cotton as an underlining in the bodice. I finished the seams with the serger and used a bias tape to finish the neckline and armholes. 

I encased the bodice in the waist seam and sewed the two skirt layers simply onto the waist pieces, serged the seam and press it towards the waist. I also inserted an invisible zipper into the left side seam.

The hem of the main fabric is finished with the rolled hem setting on the serger. For extra oomph for the skirt, I finished the lining skirt with a horsehair tape and I love how much the skirt flares out. Makes me feel like a million bucks. Especially when paired with a killer pair of red shoes.