Awhile ago, I decided I would take the time to shed some light on some awesome indie patterns & how to sew on a budget. Today, however, I am taking the time to talk about a company that goes by the name, Chalk & Notch. When I first saw the patterns they offered, I was immediately drawn to the pattern, Fringe, it is the perfect spring or summer dress & it also offers different views. My favorite part was that they offered toddler & girl’s patterns, which is right up my alley, because I love to make mommy & me clothes. One of the most important things about Chalk & Notch is they offer a full range of sizes; many pattern places do not, so this to me was amazing! In my blog today, I will not be sharing my Fringe make, but it is coming up in the near future, for my daughters & I. Today I will be showing you the Orchid dress & the Marcel dress.

The first dress I will start with is the Marcel. I am in love with this dress. I’m not even exaggerating; this has to be one of my favorite dresses, I have ever made. It is so cute & is so flowy. When I saw the pattern, I knew I would have to find the perfect fabric to go with it. This fabric is a Telio Challis. It is soft to the touch & has a nice flow. As soon as I found this yellow, I ordered some & got right to cutting it out & sewing. The perfect thing about this dress pattern is that if you get stuck on any part they have a tutorial on how to make it on their Youtube Channel, however, this is not a complicated make. I made with while watching one of my favorite shows to sew to, Mindhunter. When sewing, I kept all of the fabric pieces with their pattern pieces & laid them across the table from the order of which they are sewn. So for example, I made sure that each small ruffle started first & then I went down to the very last one. Lastly, if you ever run into any issue, the owner of Chalk & Notch is the absolute most sweetest person, she will definitely take time to help, with any issue.

The Orchid Midi

The next dress, is the the Orchid midi dress. This pattern is perfect, because it includes a spring/summer, or fall/winter pattern. The pattern is offered with two different views, one is short ruffled sleeve and another gathered cap, long sleeve. The Orchid midi is a fixed wrapped bodice dress, with a tie around the waist & a cute skirt! For this dress I chose a wrinkle rayon fabric that came from Mood Fabrics, http://www.moodfabrics.com, for the past couple months I have been a part of Mood’s sewing network, so I bought some fabric from Mood & decided it would be perfect for this dress. This dress wasn’t complicated to make, however, I ran into some steps that slowed me down. I was unsure if I was reading the instructions wrong or I just simply didn’t get it… turns out I actually missed a step. LOL. This happened right around where the pockets got put in, but it was a quick finish & it turned out fine. All things considering, this is a perfect modernized version of a wrap dress, with the simplicity of it staying together! If I could change anything, I would maybe had sized down in a few areas where it felt a little bit baggier, because I noticed on other models they have a more tailored look, & that is what I would hope to achieve. Overall, the pattern is so perfect & the waist drawstring is completely different & something unique, however, one of my favorite parts is the split that is in the front. The split is just a cutesy detail to the dress! This pattern is completely customizable, so if there were things that you want to change, it definitely can be done.

I cannot wait to update you guys on my Fringe dress, featuring my daughters & I, on my Instagram page. If you would love to see more you can visit Chalk & Notch’s website at http://www.chalkandnotch.com or their Instagram page, @chalkandnotch.

Stay Blessed!