Itch to Stitch Holiday Blog Tour: A Sparkly Bonn Dress

It's my turn on the Itch to Stitch Holiday Blog Tour!!

The premise behind the tour, organized by Fleurine at Sew Mariefleur and Leslie at ThreadBear Garments, is the idea of treating yourself to something nice for the holidays (those who read this blog regularly probably know that I fully subscribe to the concept of "Treat Yo Self"!). It’s not necessarily all about fancy dresses (although mine is), but much more... what would you make to wear while running around preparing for the holidays? or while doing something active outside, like sledding or ice skating?

Note: Kennis from Itch to Stitch and Michelle from Style Maker Fabrics provided the patterns and fabrics, respectively, for this tour for free. However, all opinions about the pattern and fabric are my own.

For my holiday outfit, I chose to sew up the Itch to Stitch Bonn dress with 3/4 sleeves and a self-fabric belt. I figured this dress would be perfect for holiday parties. I love this pattern! After making a wearable muslin, I was pretty jazzed about making another in a fun fabric for the holidays! It's amazing how fabric choice can change the look of a pattern so much, isn't it?

I also love the slightly vintage, '70s feel this dress has to it! I think it could fit fairly seamlessly into Veronica Corningstone's weekend wardrobe. It makes me want to drink a Brandy Alexander while lounging on a sunken couch, indulging in some fondue. #Lifegoals, right?

In lieu of photos of me casually reclining on a sunken couch, please accept these photos of me standing by my dinky fake Christmas tree, making a goofy face and doing my best Leo-esque cheers:

For my Bonn, I chose a size 12D graded to 16 at the hip. After making my wearable muslin in the same size, I was somewhat concerned the 16 hip would be too small on the dress (the skirt is pretty straight through that region, whereas I am not), but I decided to trust the numbers and stuck with that size for my dress. The fit is fabulous when I am standing, but pulls apart/gapes slightly at the hip when I sit. I guess I spread out more when sitting! Oops. I suppose that means I'll skip the sunken couch mentioned above and just swan around with my cocktail!

 I lengthened the skirt by 2" to get it to knee-length (the pattern is drafted for between 5'4" and 5'7"). I am 5'7.5" but I like my skirts on the longer side.

The fabric I chose from StyleMaker Fabric's Touch of Shine holiday collection was this gorgeous black crepe with a sparkly golden crosshatch. It's lightweight, with a fabulous drape and fun sponge-y texture. It probably has some poly content as it was not the easiest to iron, but the stitches sink into the fabric easily and are virtually invisible (ask me how I know... unpicking a mistake was not easy!). Easy to sew, less easy to iron! I wouldn't say the texture is soft; it's rather rough, but not itchy. The sparkle is only on one side.

I opted for these shiny metal buttons, picked out with the help of the lovely Claire, who I met up with while she was visiting Bangkok (thanks, Claire!). I considered sewing the buttons through both button stands and skipping the buttonholes (the dress easily pulls over head), but decided these shank buttons were too deep and would hang off the dress in a strange way if I didn't sew the buttonholes.

On button spacing: I didn't follow the pattern's buttonhole markings for either this Bonn dress or my wearable muslin Bonn shirt. I find for me, the best way to space the buttonholes is to try the shirt on, mark the spot on the button stand that corresponds with my full bust and then place all the other buttons accordingly, relative to that one using my sewing gauge. On the shirt, I did more buttons than called for (8 total), including one above the full bust, but on the dress, I opted to space the 8 buttons out, with the full bust button being the highest.

I chose to wear my sparkly Bonn with wedge sandals because Bangkok is quite warm, even in the "cool" holiday season. But I think this dress would also look fabulous with knee high boots and warm tights in cooler climes! I'm looking forward to wearing this sparkly bad boy for a holiday cocktail party this weekend and again on New Year's Eve. And yes, the '70s nature of my dress inspired me to decide to make fondue for New Year's Eve and invite friends over!

A few more blog tour details to cap off this post: 

Use the code "holiday16" by December 11 for 16% off any pattern purchases at Itch to Stitch!
Style Maker Fabrics also has special holiday shipping rates- flat rate $5 for U.S. and discounted international rates!

Thanks so much to Kennis and Michelle for sponsoring this fun blog tour and to Fleurine and Leslie for organizing!!

Check out the other bloggers on the tour for some seriously inspirational holiday outfits, and have a look on Instagram at #itsholidayblogtour!

ITCH TO STITCH HOLIDAY BLOG TOUR 2016

DECEMBER 6th

FA SEW LA | SWEET KM | SWEET RED POPPY

DECEMBER 7th

FAIRIES, BUBBLES & CO. | LACE & PINE DESIGNS | THREADBEAR GARMENTS

DECEMBER 8th

FRÖLEIN TILIA | NÄH-CONNECTION | PEAR BERRY LANE | SEW MARIEFLEUR

DECEMBER 9th

COOKIN' & CRAFTIN' | DANDELION DRIFT | THE SARA PROJECT | THE WILD STITCH

DECEMBER 10th

JUST ADD FABRIC | SEW CHARLESTON | STYLE MAKER FABRICS | SUNFLOWER SEAMS

Cheers and happy holidays!!