The Weekly Stitch With Sew Mary Mac~ August 8, 2025

……Welcome To My Sewing Room

Feature Friday Pattern From Love Notions

The $6 Feature Friday pattern from Love Notions today,  8/8/2025 is the Melody Dolman. If you don’t own the Melody~ then you’re really missing out on a great pattern! Remember to use my code 10MARYMAC for an extra 10% off.  You can grab the pattern HERE. 

I wasn’t planning on sewing up a new Melody Dolman for this week’s Feature Friday. But then, I finished this new Caprice skirt and I knew a crisp white Melody was exactly what it needed!

So~ do you ever struggle getting your shirts like the Melody to “tie-up” nicely? Every time I tried to do it in the past, it just looked like a mess. Scroll all the way to the end to see the trick I’m using now!

Fabric Info: The Melody Dolman is made from a textured Cotton from my stash. The Royal Blue skirt is the Love Notions Caprice skirt~the simple straight skirt version. This version allowed the print to be the star. This is a linen/viscose blend from Blackbird Fabrics with a beautiful drape! It is available is several color ways. See fabric resources below.

I hadn’t made a Melody Dolman in a few years, so I needed to adjust the sizing of my pattern. My previous versions were an XL with the FBA which are now a tad tight at the bust and hip while the shoulders fit nicely. For this white version I sized up to a straight 2X with the FBA Even though my hips are just outside of the 2X range~ but the extra ease the FBA adds to the hip I did not grade out. For my next version, I may stick to the XL in the neck and shoulder area, grading out to the 2X for waist and hips. However, the boxy look I achieved for my white cotton version is exactly the look I was going for.

Next version, I will redraw the front bottom curve a bit to make the “ties” not as long. If I were to simply shorten the shirt at the lengthen/shorten lines, then it would be shorter than I like at the side seam. ( I did this in a version a made a few years ago~ see blog linked below for details)

To sew all my past Melodys along with details about my sizing and tips for sewing , visit this blog post.

The Details

The Melody is a woven button-down dolman with a shirt tail hem. For a cute casual look it can also be worn knotted at the waist. This is a GREAT introduction to sewing button downs. It’s the perfect pattern for confident beginners and experienced sewists alike.

• Designed for wovens
• Easy to fit
• Camp style collar
• Tie front or shirt tail hem
• Full Bust Option
• Video Tutorial for those tricky parts
• Breast pocket and sleeve cuff
• Skill Level: Confident Beginners ( I highly suggest using a cotton fabric as a beginner)

For more details on sizing, fabric recommendations and sewing tips visit my Melody Blog Post HERE.

Still not sure if you really need the Melody? What makes the Melody any different than the Bandwagon, Aria and Bluegrass button shirt? Take at a look at this chart that Tami(owner and designer at Love Notions) put together. It lets you compare these 4 shirts and see how different they each really are.(of course I say you need them all!)

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What I Wore Last Week

I had a busy stay at home week last week! The week started off with extreme heat and humidity followed by some crazy thunderstorms and flooding to end it.

Here are the highlights of what I wore~

• Timbre Top in a rayon crinkle gauze (Cali Fabrics a few years ago)
• My new LDT dress is swim knit from Raspberry Creek Fabrics (custom print)
• Juliet Top in a narrow rib knit. (This is my most favorite Juliet)
• Aria Button-down in red and hot pink 100% linen (Gray Lines Linen)
• Caprice Skirt in a rayon/linen blend (Retail from RCF a few years ago)
• And many Tinley Skorts in swim knit for my daily walk in the morning. (not shown)

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What I’m Sewing This Week

These were my sewing goals for this week~ and I’m pretty proud of myself to sticking to my list and getting them done!

• Two woven Tinley Skirts ~ I completed the navy tropical floral Tinely. My husband thought that the royal blue linen blend fabric deserved to be a simple skirt to let the fabric be the star. He was RIGHT!
• Raspberry Creek Fabrics Fall Strike-Offs. Will included the following:
  • 2 French Terry LN Constellation Pullovers for me~ this is my favorite pullover for fall!
  • 2 Brindle & Twig Lounge Sweatshirts for my great nephew and niece (almost done!)

I was also able to sew up a new Melody Dolman for this week’s sale. It was perfect timing since I needed a new white shirt to wear with my new Royal Blue print Caprice skirt! I hadn’t sewn one up in a few years and I had the perfect white fabric in my stash. This outfit is headed to Newport for sure!

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My Sewing Plans For Next Week

My two main goals for sewing next week are:

• 1~ Sew up 3 Timbre tops in 3 different fabric bases. This is for a blog post I am writing about drape for Raspberry Creek Fabrics. Ever wonder how one pattern looks in 3 different fabrics? Stay tuned~ I’ll provide you the link when it gets published. From left to right: Double Gauze, Stretch Crepe and Rayon Challis

• 2~. Sew up one (maybe two) things for my trip to Newport, RI next week. We”ll be visiting with some of my husband’s family and a few lifelong friends. There will be bike riding, sails and lots of good food. I think I’m most excited for the tour of Rough Point~ Doris Duke’s Newport home. They have have just opened the Doris Duke Fashion Gallery.
  • Timbre Dress in Teal Burnout Cotton Gauze (#30142)from Cali Fabrics.
  • If time allows~ I’m going to try to make one more this~ I’ll just let the inspiration hit me OR I could just clean up and reorganize my sewing room for when I get home!

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Thanks for reading “The Weekly Stitch”! I’m so happy you took the time to “visit” my sewing room!  If there is any topic you’d like to learn more about, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll try to address it during one of my Weekly Stitches.

Mary Anne 😉

Remember to follow me over on Instagram to see all my latest makes!  @sewmarymac

You can also follow my Facebook Page~ Sew Mary Mac. On this page you will find information on my makes from all pattern companies. If I know of any good sales(pattern or fabric) I will also feature this information. I have had many of my loyal followers send me friend requests on Facebook. I do post in the Love Notions group under Mary Anne MacLean, however this Facebook account is private. There is no sewing content on that Facebook Account.

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Pattern Links

These are affiliate links. It costs you nothing to purchase from these links, it just helps fund my fabric addiction which allows me to test and review more patterns.

To receive an additional 10% off the pattern price, use this coupon code 10MARYMAC.This coupon code can be used at anytime on any pattern….even a $6 Feature Friday pattern.  My code does change quarterly, so please always check the newest blog post for an update if you find a code isn’t working.

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Fabric Resources

Blackbrid Fabrics~ Royal Blue print linen/viscose

Gray Lines Linen~ My favorite source for solid color linens!

Raspberry Creek Fabrics~ best Swim knit and rayon challis in my opinion. So many options at retail pricing and thousands of designs available for custom printing. Custom printing may also be done on double gauze and stretch crepe!

Cali Fabric~Always a great selection of Designer Deadstock fabrics.

How I “Tie” My Melody Shirt Tail

I actually don’t “tie” it at all!!! I purchased a huge bag of these small elastic hair ties at the Dollar Store. They are so thin and small you don’t even see them. Perfect for tying up shirt! (They are pretty much one-time use only as they stretch out so much.). You can find them just about everywhere. They are available in clear or colors. I happen to have them on hand, because I use them to secure my rolled up PDF pattern.

This brings me back to my daughter’s cheer years and how she would always tie up her t-shirts with a pony-tail holder, but those were always very noticeable.