Dresses from Sally Kelly Fabrics

Dresses sewn by Natasha Tung using Sally Kelly fabric, modeled by her beautiful daughters.

My resolution not to neglect the blog hasn’t turned out very well in the first half of 2023... so I’m delighted to have this guest post to share with you all. Sally Kelly is one of our favorite fabric designers, and we challenged our friend Natasha Tung of Auschick Sews to use them for garments for her beautiful daughters. All photographs are courtesy Auschick Sews, all rights reserved.

Guest post by Natasha Tung

Hi everyone! This is Natasha from Auschick Sews. I’m based in Centreville, Virginia and have three kids whom I love to sew for. With the arrival of summer and the latest Little Mermaid Movie hitting the screens, the new Atlantis fabric collection by Sally Kelly was perfect for creating some new dresses for my two girls!

I knew Nettle Dress and Rosemary Dress from Peony Patterns would be perfect for showcasing these stunning prints.

Peony Patterns Rosemary Dress sewn from Sally Kelly Fabrics.

My youngest loves being able to button herself up, so I used the Rosemary Dress pattern with Flower Bed Black (from the Sally Kelly Paradiso collection), pictured above. This fabric perfectly coordinates with Ripple Coral from the Atlantis collection, which I used to create a belt secured with belt loops, one of the options the pattern offers. The 100% cotton fabric is easy to sew, and the colors are so vibrant and fun!

While you can’t really see it in these pictures, the sleeves have a facing to encase the elastic. I also used the Ripple Coral for the facing — there’s definitely something enjoyable about using unexpected fabrics inside clothes where only the wearer (and maker) knows about it. Since I had some scraps, I also made a Bluebell Bow, a free accessory pattern by Peony Patterns. I like to keep this pattern (which includes four different sizes) at my cutting table at all times so that I can whip up a coordinating bow whenever I’m making an outfit for my girls!

Peony Patterns Nettle Dress sewn from Blue Lagoon in Cream, a jersey knit from the Sally Kelly Atlantis fabric collection.

My eldest has basically decided she will only wear knits these days, so I was very happy to see some jersey knit (95% Cotton, 5% Spandex) options in the Atlantis collection — pictured above, the Peony Patterns’ Nettle Dress sewn from Blue Lagoon in Cream. Also available in a Multi (dark) colorway, this fabric is so soft and comfy, and not difficult to sew either. The colors are amazing too; my daughter gets so many comments whenever she wears this one — and it’s in frequent rotation!

The Nettle dress has two gorgeous sleeve options: short with a twist, which is what I choose (see photo above) and long with a billowy look. Surprisingly, the twist in the sleeve isn’t hard to do, and I love that it makes such a great statement! I did some of the construction of this dress on my BERNINA sewing machine, and most of it on my serger. But if you don’t own a serger, never fear — as long as your sewing machine can make a zig zag, you can sew knits!

Happy sewing! I can’t wait to see what you make with this new collection!