To celebrate the 4th of July, I decided to make myself a new dress. That sounds like me, right? The prospect of three whole days over the holiday weekend, completely free for sewing to my heart's content, seduced my right-brain into a thread-induced euphoria of possibilities. Unfortunately, my right-brain has little to no concept of time, and all my big plans for the weekend were distilled into frantic, midnight hem-finishing.
I've made this dress before. This time, though, I made a few alterations. From my previous experience, I knew that I didn't need to build any additional ease into the pattern in order for it to fit. I also knew that the instructions called for a very meager hem, and even still the skirt was a little too short for my liking. So, I added six inches to the dress to allow a generous two-inch hem at my knee. In consideration of the heat-wave currently plaguing the great state of Texas, I opted this time for the sleeveless version of this dress.
I cut the dress out one afternoon on a whim, then put it in my "to-sew" basket for a later date. I am emotionally incapable of cutting out and sewing a project in the same day. The Crazy requires that I cut out every piece precisely, and that level of OCD insanity leaves me tired of looking at scissors and fabric. With the freedom of a long weekend in front of me, I decided to tackle this fully lined project, and managed to finish everything but the hem in one afternoon. Determined not to let this dress be delegated to the ironing-board-of-hem-ridicule (as my previous attempt was), I decided to take the unfinished garment with me to The Parents' house when we left for the weekend, hoping to use my brother's machine to sew the last few stitches. Thanks to hurried late-night hemming efforts, I finished this dress just in time to wear it on the 4th of July. Blue and white stripes are festive. According to my Dad, though, yellow is not an approved color for patriotic merriment.
This dress is so comfy and so easy to dress up or down. The blue striped seersucker makes it perfect for hot summer days. And Independence Day appropriate or not, the sunny yellow midriff brings in (what is supposed to be) the hot color of the season. The altered hem length is just right, but I'm still having trouble with the bodice. The straps of the dress are constantly falling off of my shoulders. Annoying. When I make this dress again, I'm going to have to make an adjustment to the length of the bodice to accommodate my incorrect proportion of boobs to hips. I'm a pear.
I love this pattern, and eventually, I'm going to have altered it enough that it is tailored to fit me perfectly. No matter how many versions I have to make. Persistence! That's what this country was founded on!
All Around Our House Next Week: Secret projects for upcoming events. Posting will be light, so as not to ruin any surprises, but the final results will be worth the wait.
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