Black Is Beautiful Sewn Magazine Feature

Hi Guys! This year, Sewn Magazine released a special edition of their magazine in February in celebration of Black History Month. It is called the Black Is Beautiful Collector’s Edition and it is just that – Beautiful! I say this every single time, but the magazine gets better and better with each issue. Every time I think that this issue can’t possibly be better than the last issue, but it is! Every single time! I had the pleasure of being featured in this issue and I am always honored to be among the most amazing creatives in the sewing space.

The Diana Dress

The only requirement to be featured in the magazine was that everything had to be black. We could also pick a pattern by a pattern maker of color and I chose to make The Diana from Mimi G Style. I’ve had this dress since her Sew Sew Def days, but it’s also a project in the Sew It Academy, which I belong to. This pattern is free if you belong to the academy and she also has a tutorial on how to modify the bodice to have princess seams, which I did.

Fabric and Pattern Matching

Can we talk about my pattern making skills for one second?! I’m in love!!! I was both scared and excited to try and get the lines to match up but I was successful. Tips for getting your lines to match up are as follow:

1. Cut your pattern pieces one at a time and not on the fold. This helps so that you don’t have to worry about matching up two layers of fabric at once.

2. When matching up sleeves with the bodice, use your armhole as a starting point to align your pattern.

3. You can also place your pattern on top of your fabric and draw out your lines on top of your pattern piece. This can be another way to help match up your pattern pieces.

I think I purchased this piece of lace in LA a few years ago at the Michael Levine’s Loft. (RIP – They are now closed. The main fabric is Casa Collection Satin from JOANN, which I love! JOANN has an amazing sale coming up for 50% off Entire Stock Special Occasion Fabrics! I’ve used this fabric is several of my makes which you can check out HERE and HERE.

The main modification I made to this pattern is that I added the princess seams, as stated above. I used a medium for the bodice and graded it out to a large at the waist and I thought the dress fit perfectly! Oh, and how dare I forget, it has pockets! Nuff said.

Until Next time,

Johanna