{Riley Blake Designs} RBD Basics: Poplin

While I love sewing up gorgeous prints for my two girls, there's something satisfying about choosing a great solid to compliment their personalities and show off details of their chosen dress patterns. I love looking to Riley Blake Designs for their great 'Basics' selection and was excited to find POPLIN added to the mix. I've heard really good things about poplin, so I jumped at the chance to try it out!

This is 100% cotton poplin with a thread count of 205. Poplin has a distinctive ribbed texture and tight weave.

RBD Basics: Poplin comes in a rainbow of colors so I let each girl pick a favorite! My oldest chose the gorgeous Royal Blue and my youngest picked the prettiest shade of turquoise, Riley Aqua.

As I was awaiting my shipment, I asked some of my sewing friends what poplin was like and they likened it to a men's dress shirt. I remembered that I had Westport by Little Lizard King in my pattern vault so I pulled it back out and really love how this turned out!

When I had originally sewn the pattern, I made it sleeveless and honestly forgot that the pattern offered flutter sleeves. Miss 9 is loving flutter sleeves at the moment and is just smitten with her new dress in her favorite color!

When I was sewing up the collar and collar stand, I grabbed my Riley Blake Tailor's Clapper and Misting Spray Bottle which really aided in getting the crisp lines I needed.

Poplin is a thinner fabric than regular cotton so it's perfect for our hot summer heat!

My oldest daughter is entering middle school this year and has been dreaming of this dress for two years now. It was fun to finally make it a reality for her! We used Colmar from Little Lizard King and left off all the ruffles. I shortened the skirt just a smidge to match the vision in her head.

The circle skirt shows off the drape of the poplin beautifully.

For added interest, I added a tie across the back opening. We love that this dress has no buttons for her hair to get snagged on and is just pull on and go!

I really love this picture! They are the best of friends (most of the time...lol) and seeing this just melts my heart. I also adore these two colors together -- they really pop against the background.

My first (two) poplin projects definitely didn't disappoint!! The fabric is lightweight, sews (and irons!) easily and both girls thought their dresses were very comfortable to wear. I have just a bit leftover so I'm going to see how this fabric does in the new Little Lizard King Halsey shorts!

I hope I've inspired you to sew up your own project in poplin -- what would you sew first?