It’s weird to me to think that this is my last post from the Virginian countryside. I’ve really enjoyed exploring all the back roads near our small town with Chris and the kids. It’s just so unbelievably gorgeous here… i’m really going to miss my dear Virginia! Anyone remember my first post from when I moved to Virginia? Funnily enough, it was wearing a Darling Ranges dress too – seems kind of full circle i guess!

Chris told me I looked “fancy” today. hehehe. It must be the combo of my awesome new jewelery from Merl & Kristin (i love having talented friends) - and umm the hair up? Ugh i dunno about the hair people. Seriously. Today I remembered why i hardly ever wear my hair up, i truly hate the way it looks on me. I was invisioning my bun to look more like my friend Emily’s always does, but alas, i am not Em.

Ooooo and before i forget – this is the second dress i made for the Darling Ranges sew along! Funnily enough, even though this is an exact version of the first Darling Ranges dress i released in 2010 – it still feels like a new dress to me, since i never had one till now. Silly hey? Whatever, i’m enjoying it!!

And who knows what the hell this pose is, but it made me laugh, so here  you go hehehe :) XOXO

Dress: Megan Nielsen, Darling Ranges dress AW2010, (get the sewing pattern)
Shoes: Anita wedge in tan c/o Wanted
Necklace: Merl Kinzie // Clydes Rebirth (i am so obsessed with Merl’s jewelery, i think i will soon go broke heheehe)
Bracelets: Kristin Hassan (here) and Melissa Esplin (gift)
Watch: Timex  

I really Love Alli’s version of the Darling Ranges dress! Her blog is one of my very favourites and I feel like the chambray and buttons she chose are very similar to something I would have chosen for myself. I don’t know about you, but I always feel like chambray is a neutral – kind of goes with everything you know?

Thanks Alli for sharing your creation!! See more photos of Alli’s dress on her blog

photo credit:: One Pearl Button

I’m so excited! We’re done with our Darling Ranges sewalong!! I made two dress – the standard Darling Ranges (which i’ll share later this week) and this one, which has a few alterations.

This version is sleeveless, with belt loops instead of ties and has back darts to create a more fitted style. I have to say, I think the darts at the back turned out really nicely!

If you didn’t get a chance to sew along with us, never fear, you can still find all the posts here –  you can just give it a go at another time! Also, don’t forget – you only have till the end of this week to use the SEWALONG coupon code for 15% off the Darling Ranges pattern

So tell me, how did you fair?? Are you all done? Still going?

Dress: Megan Nielsen, Darling Ranges dress w/o sleeves
Belt: vintage Coach
Shoes: Dolce Vita (yes i did buy these boots in two colours, sue me hehe)
Necklace: Merl Kinzie // Clydes Rebirth 

You guys!! This is our last step!! After we finish up all these buttonholes and buttons then we’re done and dusted! That deserves a whoooop whooop or something :)

Ready to get started? I’ve got a few tricks and tips to show  you!

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We are so close to being finished with our dresses!! Today we’ll be working on the ties – but since i’ve noticed some people are leaving off the ties in favour of belting their dresses – i thought, lets also throw in a beltloop tutorial! Yay!

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Anna went ahead and made a really gorgeous sleeveless version of the Darling Ranges. I love how this dress just looks so different without the sleeves! Remember, if you want to make a sleeveless version of this dress you can follow the directions in this tutorial.

The fabric she used is really so pretty! Click through to her blog to see close ups and more details of her project. Needless to say, her blog is really one of my absolute favourites :)

As a side note: Thanks so much for all of the encouragement yesterday. Everyones comments, emails and tweets were so heartening! It’s a stressful time, but also an exciting time :) Can’t wait to share more details with you next week

Okay, lets get going on hemming our Darling Ranges dresses! This is an easyyyy peasyyyy step!

Lets get out our rulers and get those irons hot!

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Today we’re going to be inserting our sleeves in the Darling Ranges dress and finishing the sleeve hems. We’ll be using the inset sleeve method, and I’ll be showing you two different ways to insert the elastic into the sleeve hems. I really love having elastic in the sleeve hems because it’s just so comfortable! I really hate the feeling of constriction that often comes with an elbow sleeve with a vent.

Ready for some sleeve action? Go!

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I really love making sleeveless versions of this dress! I know sleeves aren’t a lot of work  - but sometimes leaving them off just feels fast, you know? hehe

The dress is drafted with a slightly narrower than usual shoulder width to make it a bit easier to simply leave off the sleeves.

We’ll be using bias tape to make it even easier. Here’s how!

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I know the placket may seem daunting – but I promise if you take it slowly and carefully it will all make sense and work out beautifully!

I love this method for creating the placket and neckline together, as I think it results in a really neat and fluid line of sewing.

Alrightly, lets get started!

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