Family Picture Perfection with Made By Kates and Raspberry Creek Fabrics

We're thrilled to have Katie from Made by Kates here on the blog today sharing her stunning family photos and the outfits she made for them.  She walks you through all the different fabric types she used and offers loads of tips for sewing them up.

I'm so excited to be here talking about one of my favorite fabrics- Club Rayon Challis.  Each season I look forward to what new prints will be coming out on this base because I can always count on it to give me amazing results.  This fall was no different and as soon as I saw the Teal Watercolor Floral print, I knew I had to have it! I loved it so much I based our family pictures around it.  Bonus for me because I got some amazingly beautiful photos out of it too!  

Rayon challis is a plain weave out of soft rayon fibers.  It has a soft hand with a beautiful drape.  This makes it perfect for things like blouses, skirts, dresses or really anything you want to flow nicely.  Being rayon, it isn't a terribly strong fiber so it can be fickle, but I've found the Club based fabric to be some of the best I've used.  It does shrink so it's recommended to wash and dry it before use.  Rayon can also stretch, but again, I've had very good luck with the base Raspberry Creek uses.  It doesn't shrink or stretch nearly as much as some do.  

For my dress, I chose to make the Orchid Midi from Chalk and Notch with the long sleeves and lengthened it to a maxi.  This was the only change I made to the original pattern.  In lengthening it, I also adjusted the front slit so that it hit right below my knee.  I had made the flutter sleeve version of this pattern out of some club rayon challis from the Spring line and knew it was perfect for this fabric.  

Even though the club challis is some of the easiest to work with, rayon challis can be a little shifty when sewing.  Using lots of clips while sewing can help to keep pieces lined up well.  Another little tip with rayon challis is to be sure to press as you go!  I get a lot of satisfaction in pressing this fabric because it behaves so well.  It gives a beautiful crisp edge to the seams.  Even after washing, it presses up beautifully.  

It was terrible windy on the day we took our photos and rayon challis definitely has a cool hand.  But even though I was freezing and my hair was blowing everywhere, this fabric and dress combo made me feel like a million bucks!

I used a couple other great fabrics from Raspberry Creek to complement this fabric for our family photos.  

I used the Brushed Heathered French Terry  in both grey and teal for two of my boys and the Robert Kaufman Brussels Washer Linen in purple heliotrope for my daughter.  

My youngest son got a Sprint Muscle Shirt from Love Notions that I layered like a vest over a gingham button up.  In the cold and wind he was glad to have a second layer!

My middle son got a Navigator Pullover from Love Notions that I hacked to be 1/4 zip with no pockets and no seam.  This polyester cotton french terry has a slightly brushed back which makes it extra warm.  I used teal cotton lycra for the binding around the neck and it was a perfect match.  I love the clean finish it gives the inside and the little pop of color at the neck.  

For her dress, I used the Marlow pattern from Jilly Atlanta.  It's a fairly simple silhouette and I wanted to add a little more detail so I did pintucks across the front bodice piece.  It was the perfect addition.  This linen is so soft and gets softer with every wash, due partially to the rayon content with the linen.  The linen component means it presses up beautifully and stays!  That was really helpful to make the pintucks nice and crisp.