Seersucker Summer with Raspberry Creek Fabrics

There are a lot of reasons to love seersucker. One of the best things about the preppy puckered fabric is that it doesn’t wrinkle. It doesn’t need to be ironed, which makes it great for traveling.

Seersucker is cool and crisp, making it the perfect fabric to wear on hot humid summer days! Seersucker’s stripes are raised, which offers air circulation between the fabric and your skin thus keeping you cooler. Did you know the term “seersucker”comes from the Hindi word “sirsakar” that was borrowed from the Persian compound “shiroshakar” meaning “milk and sugar”. If you want to read the complete history of Seersucker and why it became so popular in the US- head over to this blog post from Country Club Prep. Click here.

By now everyone knows how much I love Raspberry Creek Fabrics! They have their own line of fabrics they call “club fabrics”- cotton jersey, French Terry and double brushed poly, in addition to swim, Ponte and challis- which are custom printed and eco-friendly. But the shop is also stocked with some very high quality woven fabrics. Seersucker just happens to be one of them.

The most traditional seersucker fabric is blue and white, but RCF has some of the prettiest colors of seersucker stripe to choose from. That, sewing friends is where it became hard. I couldn’t decide on which color I wanted to sew up, so I decided to sew them all! I decided to color block my beloved Alder shirtdress pattern from Grainline Studios for the ultimate preppy shirtdress for summer!

First I had to decide which colors to use and where I wanted to use them. I know there are several ways I could have made a mock-up online, but I resorted to my good ole colored pencils for this. I played around with several different combinations until I came up with exactly what I wanted. I finally decided on using the Navy, Light Blue, Pink and Aqua Seersucker from the shop! Click here to see all the colors RCF has in stock!

I love everything about this dress. I have made four other versions of this dress and they are perfect for summer. Grainline Studios has excellent directions and I always love her construction techniques. There is also a sew-a-long you can find on her website for any of the parts you might find tricky. The inside of this shirtdress is just a pretty as the outside!

The only changes I made to the pattern were the pocket and buttons. My daughter knew I was working on this project and came upon this blouse. I just loved the little ruffle on the pocket- so I recreated it for my Alder! I added one additional button and placed them a bit closer together in order to eliminate any bustline gaping.

A game changer when sewing all those buttons on–sew them on with your machine! My main machine is my 37 year old Pfaff. I have several newer machines, but my Pfaff is by far my favorite to sew on daily. It doesn’t have a button foot, so I simply just take off the presser foot, drop the feed dog then adjust the zig-zap stitch to the correct width size. Using the hand wheel at first, I then just zig zag a few times in each button. I secure the buttons by pulling the thread to the underneath side and knotting them.

This is the Preppy Seersucker Shirtdress of my dreams! I’m ready for summer! But wait- there’s more!! Color blocking is a great way to use up bits and pieces of different fabrics floating around your sewing room. But when planning out this shirtdress, I realized I had a lot of fabric leftover. I needed the length for the 2 front pieces, which left me with some pretty big sized leftovers. Rather than place them in my ever growing scrap stash, I decided I’d make TWO garments. I must admit, I think I love the second one more than the original one I planned! Isn’t it funny how that happens sometimes.

So, I went through my stash of Indie patterns looking for something perfect for my preppy seersucker leftovers. And then it hit me! The Presto Tunic from Love Notions! It was perfect! I had only ever made this tunic once, and I didn’t love it. It was totally the case of the wrong fabric choice. Nonetheless, I set the pattern aside 3 years ago and never gave it a second look.

Well, I don’t think the Presto gets enough attention in the sewing community! It is the perfect preppy tunic! It’s also the perfect pattern for color blocking. Most of Love Notions patterns also have a FBA front piece- so the work is already done for you it you need it!

I added some pink and navy rick rack to the front yoke piece and sleeve hem for an added bit of preppy! Can it get any preppier than this!?!?

Over the years I have seen a lot of different garments that have inspired these two makes. Here are just a few of them. If you love seersucker- then sew it! One can never have too many seersucker garments in their wardrobe for summer. And everyone should have at least one color blocked seersucker item in their closet! So, go get your seersucker at Raspberry Creek!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Mary Anne 🙂

Fabrics were provided to me by Raspberry Creek Fabrics, but as always all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The patterns from Grainline Studio and Love Notions were purchased by me. I strongly recommend them both. it

Here is my affiliate link to the Presto Top-it costs you nothing more, but does provide me with a lil something to help replenish my fabric stash 🙂 Be sure to use the code MACSEWS10 for any Love Notions Pattern order for 10% off. This code can even be used during sales! My code does change quarterly, so please always check the newest blog post for an update if you find a code isn’t working.

https://www.lovenotions.com/product/presto-tunic-for-ladies-xs-xxxl/?affiliates=861