I’m so pleased to be a part of the Frock Blog Tour today! Also: a little surprised I’m the first one to use “Frock Frock” as a blog post title. Well, finders keepers. Frock is a new collection of rayon fabrics from Cotton and Steel. I love sewing with rayon — it’s one of my five fabric faves — and I’m a big fan of candy pink so when I saw this print in the mix I knew it was meant to be. Faithful readers may recall a few other candy pink concoctions that have appeared in this space (see exibits A, B, and C; note that B and C are also rayon). I do seem to gravitate towards that color whenever it is available (oh! and my hair extensions are currently pink too).

Frock is printed on a lovely substrate that is flowy and soft yet still substantial. The fabric has a bit more weight than the Free Spirit rayons (like this one) but has a similar drape and behavior for those who have had experience with those, though I think it has a bit more stand. The true sign of a quality rayon is a geometric print that is actually printed ON GRAIN and Frock is right on target. Cutting rayon can be a bit of a challenge, so not having to make a choice between the print and the grain is really refreshing. The other thing I love about it is that it is incredibly wrinkle-resistant. I threw this thing in my purse and carried it around with me for a day and then hung it up on a hanger for a few hours and it looked as good as new.

As far as washing it (Cotton and Steel recommends dry cleaning), I decided to be a Cowboy for the Sake of Science and throw it in the wash on hot and tumble dry it on high, just to see what the heck would happen. That was probably risky given that I might have ended up with a pile of melted rayon in my dryer, but you know what happened? Nothing. I honestly can’t detect any issues; it didn’t melt or pucker or shrink unevenly as far as I can tell; it looked phenomenal when I pulled it out of the dryer. I’m not sure I would recommend that sort of devil-may-care attitude to anyone else, and if I wash it again I’ll probably wash delicate on cool and maybe tumble dry low for a few minutes before hanging it up to dry, now that it’s been sewn up and I have more to lose.

Let’s talk about the pattern: This is Josephine with the large bow from the Washi Expansion Pack. I combined the large sleeve and longer length from Josephine’s View A with the center seam from View C (see this post for all three views). I added an extra inch (so 5″ total) to the center of the sleeve because I wanted as much drama as possible in the sleeves. I also sewed the tucks down to just below the bust; I’ve done that before and I like the added shaping that release tucks give to this pattern.

I love how this turned out! The slightly scandalous length of this tunic makes it read “mini-dress” when paired with tights (at least on me, I’m tall), and the bow on top keeps the whole thing looking prim and cute. I think this might be my Valentine’s Day aka Anniversary Date Dress (we got married on Valentine’s Day…awwww!). Or do I need to wear something more skanky? I don’t know, I feel like I’m getting to old to hooch out on Valentine’s Day.

Sewing with Frock was an absolute delight. Frock is available for pre-order at Pink Castle Fabrics and Fancy Tiger (sponsors of this blog). The line is just hitting shops this week; another sponsor, Fabricworm, will have it in stock soon! Here are the rest of the prints in the Frock Rayons Collection:

And you really must check out the other stops on the Frock Blog Tour! You’ll may get a kick out of how many of these feature a bow (hey, what can we say, this rayon is PERFECT for a bow!!):

January 29: Deborah of Whipstitch blog
January 30: Amber of Fancy Tiger Crafts
January 31: Rochelle – Lucky Lucille
February 2: Christine Haynes
February 3: Devon Iott of Miss Make
February 4: Jemellia Hilfiger of JemJam
February 5: Anna Graham of Noodlehead
February 6: Oliver + S
February 7: Me!

Frock Frock

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