When Two Become One: The Rae Top and The Wilder Gown
Today I’ll be sharing a colour explosion made possible by combining the Rae top from Tessuti Fabrics and The Wilder Gown from Friday Pattern Company with this amazing Ellen McKenna fabric.
This dress has been a long time coming; well 6 months, and we all know that can be an eternity in the sewing world. So I guess the best way to start is from the beginning. Ready, set...let’s go!
There’s no secret that I love colour, abstract shapes and textured patterns. So when I came across Ellen McKenna, I just fell in love with her creations. She’s a fellow Aussie who has an insane gift and is unbelievably talented. I came across her masterful work through Nerida Hansen Textiles, but unfortunately missed out on her fabric since she was new to me at the time. Needless to say, her stuff sells like hot cakes. So I did the next best thing and found her on Insta and had a good old stalk; falling in love with everything on her page. This was around the time she was preparing her exhibit ‘From Art to Fashion’. I would have given my first born to be at that art exhibit. In all seriousness, it was actually so amazing that in June 2020 she was shortlisted as a finalist in The Design Files + Laminex -Design Awards in the category of Textile Design. See I’m not joking. She oozes talent.
So when she had her art work from that exhibit available through Next State, I knew I had to get my grubby little hands, well they’re clean but you get me, on some of that fabric gold. BUT...turns out shipping to the USA is not always cheap from Australia. Feeling pretty bummed I message Ellen, and this next part is a testament to how wonderful of a person she is. In no time at all she made her artwork available on Spoonflower for me to purchase. I mean this was no small feat, she had to check that she could do that. Luckily she was able to and made it possible for little old me to finally get some of her precious work. It was a hard choice but I ended up purchasing ‘Fields of fancy’ in the sweet pea gauze. I envisioned a lightweight, magical summer nights dream dress. So the next step was how to make this come to fruition.
Enter the Rae top and Wilder Gown stage right. I had purchased the Rae top from Tessuti strictly for this project. I was a little nervous since sizing was only up to an 18 but it worked out for me (hoping they extend sizing soon). And we all know that Chelsea from Friday Pattern Company is bloody amazing and has a great range in inclusive sizing. So what I did was simple; I took the Rae top and added the Wilder Gown tiers to the bottom. I followed the instructions from both sets. No variation needed. I did toss up the idea of adding a waist tie but didn’t have enough fabric. So maybe on my next one I’ll give that a go.
The result...I love it! I just love the easiness of just popping it on and being done. That’s how we took pictures too. I literally threw it over my head, popped on some earrings and didn’t even brush my hair. Now that’s my kind of dress! Did I mention we went out on such a hot day to take these pics and I was so amazed by how breathable this sweet pea gauze is. Two thumbs up! In conclusion, I highly recommend giving Ellen McKenna’s Spoonflower store a visit if you’re in the US and Next State if you’re in Australia. I also recommend both the Rae Top and Wilder Gown for beginner friendly patterns that look oh so expensive. What do you think? You up for that killer combination?
