Cattail was first drafted as a tank top to pair with the Tamarack Tights that Sherri had been planning since before Sofiona Designs first launched. As we got close to being ready to post our tester calls Sherri looked at the tank and said "I think this should be a (maxi) dress too". She was so right. And I love last minute, late night work (said no one ever). All the same, I made the necessary adjustments, tested it out and was so excited to present it to our testers and see what they would do with it!
The Cattail still has a tank top length option (and it DOES look awesome with the Tamarack Tights).
It's also available as a knee length dress.
Or as a maxi dress.
There are 2 different back options. A racerback with center seam creates a classic athletic look.
The racerback Cattail tank and Tamarack Tights made for the perfect pairing.
Or choose the Angled Back option for some cool piecing. If you know anything about our patterns it should be that we love angles and fun details (especially on the back of a garment for an unexpected surprise). The dress versions will feature a triangular "cut out" at the top of center back. The tank top has a second triangle "cut out" at the hemline.
RIGHT: Kara's tank top angled back version takes the same elegant pattern and turns it sporty with the addition of some Tamarack Tights!
The front of this tank/dress can be as simple as a solid panel, or pieced together with a few different vertical panelling options.
RIGHT: Cassandra choose the wider right side piecing option for her tank and we love how it shows off these 2 complimentary fabrics!
RIGHT: Kelle not only matched 3 colours/prints perfectly for her striped version of the Cattail, but they're all different types of fabric too! (rayon spandex, cotton jersey, and French terry)
One thing we realized during testing was the effect some fabrics had on the final length of the maxi dress. The maxi was drafted with a hemline that hits mid ankle. Certain fabrics (think DBP, Bamboo, etc.) can have a little more drape, weight and/or vertical stretch. The result of using these fabrics is a hem that hangs lower/longer than intended. In this case the dress will simply need to be trimmed and hemmed farther up. (It's ideal if your model is available to try the dress on before attempting to hem.)
As with all our new patterns from this point on we've added the option of an A0 file for printing. Home printing is also still available, but we highly recommend taking a close look at the "Pages to Print" chart in the tutorial if you're only planning on making a specific size and/or option. With the maxi length pattern pieces and two different back options this IS a larger file to print if you print the whole thing! Or, if you're simply "over" the whole printing thing, we've also added a projector file specifically to be used with your sewing projector set up. (If you're interested in learning more about use of projectors, proper calibration of projectors, or anything else projector related we highly recommend you check out the Facbook group "Projectors for Sewing".)
We hope you'll enjoy making your own versions of the Cattail Tank/Dress and share them with us on IG (#soficattail #sofionadesigns #cattailinthewild) and/or in our Facebook Sofiona Designs Fan Group!
I'll leave you with a couple more tester pics that just made us smile (we really do have a fun group of testers!)
