Sunny Day Dress

A while back I posted a photo of an upcoming garment project

I have had it in my mind that I want to try and make more clothing and at the beginning of the summer season I looked through my closet for a fun little sundress to wear during the day and realized that I don't have one. Well, what's a seamstress to do about that? Though it's been a really long time since I've considered myself a seamstress, technically I do have the training. There was one pattern in particular at Cool Cottons that kept catching my eye, the Sunny Day Dress and Skirt by Jamie Christina.

The fabric I chose is a print from Andover, trimmed with just a plain solid white. I was hoping to finish the dress by the time I went on my trip to the east coast in late June, but didn't quite meet that deadline. For the most part the construction went pretty smoothly, though I did have a couple of problems losing track of top/bottom of some of the pattern pieces that were either truly rectangular or (in one case) nearly so. Even with the markings I was unsure if I put the bodice and waistband together properly. The only other problem I had with the pattern/construction is that the trim for the top of the waistband came up short. Not by much, but it did leave unfinished edges on that tiny little flange just before the gathered back.

I also made just a couple of adjustments for size and length as I was putting it together. For one, the pattern definitely errs on the short-waisted side of things, which I am not. But even with that being the case, the measurement for the elastic for the back of the dress was a little long and had to be shortened to stay where it should in order to keep the bodice and waistband hanging correctly. I also made a really tiny hem on the skirt in order to keep the length below my knee.

But I finished it, and FINALLY got up the nerve to wear it to work earlier this week.

We've been having temperatures in the upper 80s and into the 90s here in Portland, but the day I chose to wear the dress was one of the cooler days of the week - perhaps hitting 80°F at the most. Which worked out perfectly so I could be comfortable wearing my little short-sleeved cardigan over it, covering up the amply exposed back this dress offers. I thought I'd be happy to have a fun garment that actually shows a little of my mid-back tattoo, but am thinking not one for work, perhaps. Does this mean I'm getting old??

All in all, I am definitely glad I made the effort to get this finished and was able to wear it at least the once. I'll keep my eye open for more of her patterns as long as I feel I'd be able to alter the bodice length to fit me better. But it is cute, isn't it??

Barcelona Skirts

For about 2 years now I have been meaning to make more skirts from the Amy Butler pattern "Barcelona Skirt," but for some reason it didn't happen until this week. It's not that it's a complicated pattern - in fact, once you've done it one time, it goes pretty smoothly from there. I even picked out some fabrics about a year ago specifically for this purpose, but put it off so long that I completely reconsidered my choices.

When I first made this skirt, I found a fabulous Tina Givens fabric at Cool Cottons here in Portland. And when I wore this skirt to the shop a few weeks ago, co-founder and owner, Marie, proclaimed that she, too, had made the same skirt using the same print. Great minds think alike!


And while at work, I kept eyeing a particular print from Michael Miller Fabrics, from their Metro Living collection. I finally caved, again with great encouragement from Marie. So, when I finally dragged out my old pattern from my sewing table drawer, I decided I was going to maximize on the effort and cut out two skirts at one time. I don't know whether it's consistency of taste or what, but as it turns out they are both predominantly grey - however the Andover floral is actually yardage I bought many years ago, while working at another quilt shop that is sadly no longer around. However, it was a print I loved then, still love now, and has been used in several quilting projects already (including one of the main prints in my queen sized quarter log cabin quilt).

and the Michael Miller one:


One thing I DID learn in this process, however, is that this pattern most definitely is more effective cutting and sewing from unwashed fabric. It not only accentuates the fraying of the raw edges on each tier of the skirt, but I found that the medium is just a hint too big for me, but I don't dare try and cut the pattern to the small, but with a hot water wash it seems to shrink just about the right amount to fit properly!
Now if only the temperature would stay above 58 degrees so I might actually get some wear out of my cute new skirts!