The Fine Art of Never Letting Go

I'm sorry I don't have a Before photo. So here's the story. I made a dress ages ago - maybe 20 years, I can't remember - out of this really cute yellow and white check with ladybugs. But it didn't turn out well. I loved it until I put it on and looked in the mirror, then it just didn't work for me. I tried once to fix it by making a complete new bodice for it. Slight improvement but it still didn't work. So for years I tried to think of something else to do to fix it. I considered giving it to Goodwill but it's so hard to let go.

Finally a few weeks ago it hit me. Why not make something for the granddaughter! The pattern is McCall's L9462, plus pockets from another pattern.

Yes it's wrinkled. Don't judge; Her mom honestly doesn't have time for ironing.

You may notice she's holding something very small in her hand.

It was quick and easy to make and she likes it.

But the story doesn't end there. I had a few little scraps left and I had an idea. So I searched for and quickly found some black and white stripe fabric. I used New Look 6963, my current favorite long shirt pattern and here's what I came up with:

And the back:

This is different for me. I don't often wear stripes and never anything as plain as black and white stripes but I love this. Sometimes less really is more. Less of this adorable ladybug check fabric works so much better than more. And best of all, I was able to let go and yet not let go.

Oops and Nice Recovery

I don't have a before picture. I photograph almost everything I make so I thought surely I had to have a picture of the dress somewhere but I didn't find one. Here's what happened. It was a simple A-line dress. I loved it, mainly for the fabric. I have a bit of a thing for ladybugs, you see. But it had a couple of problems so I didn't wear it very often. One problem was that the arm holes were a bit too small. Easy to fix, right? Well, perhaps I am a bit overconfident at times. When I got done "fixing" the arm holes they were way too big.

So for a while I pouted and tried to think of a way to fix them again. But the armholes weren't the only problem. The pockets were too small to be useful (I made it before I got a smartphone.) and I don't wear A-line dresses much anymore. So I decided to give it up and make something out of it for my granddaughter.

It's McCall's 9227. I lengthened the skirt because she's tall for her age but I might have lengthened it more than I needed to. I think it will be okay though. She often wears longish dresses and not just the ones I make. I will get to see her and give it to her this weekend.

Now I have just one problem: I no longer have a ladybug dress. I can't not have a ladybug dress. Must go fabric shopping.

* This was actually a while ago that I made this and I already have something else to show off but who knows when I will get around to it.

* * * * *

UPDATE:

It turned out to be a maxi. She loves it. Here she is watching the eclipse, wearing the dress and her dad's welding mask.

The Insect Journal Tunic

Is everyone getting tired of New Look 6963? I know... based on the low number of page views, not to mention lack of comments, I must be the most boring sewing blogger on the planet. This fabric, on the other hand, is far from boring. That's it; that's my excuse. The fabric. For me it's all about the fabric and the more I love a fabric the more I want to use a pattern that will be a guaranteed success. Anyway, the fabric. My apologies to anyone with insect phobias.

The first thing I noticed was the insects and the text, which is in French, or at least that's what it looks like to my monolingual* brain, but the more I look at it the more I see. There are several layers of stuff: insects, text, large plants, like old fashioned botanical illustrations, a small faded green and yellow calico print, and large stencil style numerals. I think this might be the most interesting fabric I have ever seen.

As you can see, I made the long, sleeveless version but I actually lengthened it about an inch and a half, not that I really needed to since it's long enough to start with, and I added pockets because I want to wear this with leggings. Last Sunday I wore it with the dark grey leggings. Here's the back:

I sort of wish that the two 5's hadn't ended up right next to each other on the front. I would have preferred having it more random but it's really no big deal. Overall, I love it.

(* I studied Spanish in high school but I only remember maybe a dozen nouns and two verbs but not how to conjugate them.)